Bitcoin’s on-chain activity has shown a sharp slowdown since spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched. While institutional inflows into these products have accelerated, the number of active BTC addresses has declined. As Wall Street embraces BTC exposure, the network’s grassroots participation appears to be undergoing a significant transformation. In an X post, the CEO of SwanDesk, financial analyst Jacob King, pointed out that Bitcoin active addresses have been in a steady decline since the US spot BTC ETFs launched in January 2024, and the irony is obvious. Why Retail Participation Shows Signs Of Fatigue For years, BTC maximalists have pushed for Wall Street adoption, believing institutional involvement would unlock the next wave of mass usage. Instead, on-chain participation has dropped sharply as retail lost interest. Related Reading: US Fed Has Ended Quantitative Tightening, But Why Is The Bitcoin Price Still Below $100,000? King noted that these Bitcoiners have piled into the ETF for a quick, early FOMO bump, and then bailed, leaving behind a market where the asset is increasingly traded by proxy. According to King, ETF investing kills BTC’s core principles. While investors no longer hold or control their own assets as banks do, which is the very system BTC was designed to challenge, greed always beats ideology. Market watcher Crypto Seth has revealed that the net inflows into BlackRock and Fidelity’s spot BTC ETFs have been relatively subdued since October 10, when the largest liquidation events happened. Seth believes that this might turn into a momentum reversal soon, as the US stock market is at 1% below new highs despite retail sentiment remaining stuck in extreme fear. Seth also pointed out that the macro backdrop is shifting in BTC’s favor. This is because the Federal Reserve ended its Quantitative Tightening (QT) program on December 1, 2025, wrapping up a multi-year effort that shaved nearly $3 trillion from the balance sheet since 2022. Since the US Fed rate is still at 4.00%, more interest rate cuts are on the horizon, which is higher than both Europe and China. The BlackRock iShares BTC Trust (IBIT), which was launched in January 2024, is currently the firm’s most profitable exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on annual fee revenue, despite being less than two years old. Unlocking Bitcoin Without Compromising Its Core Principles Bitcoin is seeing key initiatives that improve its ecosystem. Every market cycle that has promise to unlock Bitcoin for decentralized finance (DeFi), RioSwap is one of the few products built on infrastructure that was capable of unlocking it in a truly decentralized way. Related Reading: Bitcoin Aims Higher as Bulls Regain Strength and Push for Resistance Break According to Mintlayer, this was powered by Mintlayer’s native HTLC architecture, as RioSwap introduces a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) that allows BTC to move directly into decentralized markets without wrapping, unbridging, and is fully in the user’s control. With the RioSwap testnet now live, Mintlayer sees this as the start of a new liquidity phase for BTC where the asset will become an active participant in the decentralized market on its own terms. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
A recent XRP price analysis from a prominent supporter has placed the cryptocurrency’s long-term value in the four-figure range. Although XRP is currently trading around $2, the analyst believes a rise to $1,000 is necessary for the altcoin. His outlook stems from the cryptocurrency’s underlying utility rather than speculation, emphasizing how global liquidity systems could drive prices upward through massive settlement volumes. Why The XRP Price Needs To Climb To $1,000 Crypto analyst @unkownDLT has shared a rather ambitious price forecast for XRP this week. The analyst claims that the cryptocurrency must reach thousands of dollars to operate as a fundamental component within global settlement and collateral markets. He highlights that this bold target is not mere speculative hype but a projection of what could unfold if XRP were to serve as the backbone of global liquidity flows. Related Reading: Analyst Predicts 10x Rally For XRP Price If THis Trend Repeats @unkownDLT argues that capturing even a small share of about 5-10% of the global value transfer market would require the cryptocurrency to be worth at least $1,000 to operate efficiently. From this viewpoint, XRP’s high potential value is a necessity. Typically, trillions of dollars move across borders through banks, clearing houses, and collateral markets each day. The analyst suggests that if XRP were to serve as a bridge asset for major institutions and cross-border payment systems, its price would need to be high enough to prevent the blockchain network from running out of usable supply. In essence, a higher valuation would allow the network to handle larger transaction volumes without requiring enormous amounts of XRP for every transfer. @unkownDLT explained that a low-value asset cannot serve as an effective settlement buffer for global finance. On the other hand, a higher-value token would provide more usable liquidity and offer greater stability and lower volatility. Since its inception, XRP has had a fixed number of units, so a rise in its price is one of the few ways to scale its capacity to handle trillions of dollars in daily global inflows. XRP’s Price Discovery And True Value In a separate post, @unkownDLT revealed that XRP has yet to experience a price discovery. Currently, the cryptocurrency is in a downtrend and has consistently failed to reclaim previous highs. The analyst has set XRP’s price discovery target above $3.4, representing a 69% increase from its current price of around $2.00. He says that technical patterns do not drive this bullish target, but the emergence of new market conditions. Related Reading: The Bull And Bear Scenario For XRP That Could Play Out In November According to @unkownDLT, XRP has never traded in an environment shaped by institutional inflows, regulatory clarity, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), or a global shift toward distributed ledger infrastructure. With these elements converging, he believes the next cycle will behave differently from past market cycles. The analyst has also highlighted that XRP’s true value becomes visible only when institutions require a neutral asset to settle tokenized value across interconnected networks. He described the cryptocurrency as a universal clearing layer that bridges settlement environments and enables seamless movement across digital financial systems. Featured image from Freepik, chart from Tradingview.com
Crypto analyst Chad Steingraber has sparked both excitement and skepticism in the crypto community with a bold prediction for the XRP price. According to his technical analysis, XRP could surge to an astonishing $220 solely due to the impact of its Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). He draws a parallel with Bitcoin’s historic price spike following its spot ETF launch, suggesting that institutional adoption and market enthusiasm could drive a similar meteoric rise for XRP. While the bold claim has caught the interest of market participants, questions remain about whether this projection is realistically achievable. XRP Price To Reach $220 From ETF Influence On Wednesday, Steingraber shared his bullish XRP price forecast on X social media, suggesting that the cryptocurrency could experience an explosive surge to $220 depending on the results of its ETFs. He bases this striking prediction on the potential impact of institutional inflows, arguing that the launch of major XRP ETFs could dramatically increase XRP’s demand and price. Related Reading: XRP Investors Holdings Have Hit Worst Losses In 1 Year, Here Are The Stats Steingraber has based his XRP price projection on Bitcoin’s post-ETF launch performance in 2024. He pointed out that the BTC price roughly doubled in value during the first year after its Spot ETF debut, driven by strong institutional adoption, market enthusiasm, and broader momentum. Using this as a benchmark, the analyst compares both the absolute and percentage gains of Bitcoin to estimate that XRP could experience a similar surge in value. He believes that with the potentially massive inflows set to come from XRP ETFs, the current price of the cryptocurrency could multiply by 100x to reach $220. Steingraber has highlighted the Canary XRP ETF, XRPC, which recorded massive consecutive inflows this month and became one of the most successful ETF launches in 2025, as evidence of growing institutional interest. He described XRPC as a “warning shot,” signaling the arrival of other major players in the market. ETF Inflows To Consume Supply, Amplifying Price Pressure In a separate analysis, Steingraber examined the potential effects of ETF inflows on XRP’s supply and price. He envisioned a scenario where multiple funds collectively acquire over $1 billion worth of XRP in a single day, which is equivalent to more than 229 million XRP. Extending this hypothetical situation, he calculated that weekly ETF activity could absorb over 1.14 billion XRP, while monthly accumulation could exceed 4.58 billion XRP. Related Reading: Famous Trader Bets $27 Million That The XRP Price Will Crash In about six months, he surmised that ETF demand could theoretically purchase nearly 27.5 billion XRP, an amount large enough to consume a significant portion of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply. Additionally, Steingraber’s projection highlights the potential structural pressure that institutional ETFs could exert on the altcoin’s price. Even without price appreciation, the analyst suggests that the scale of potential ETF inflows could create supply constraints that could drive upward momentum. Additionally, he predicts that the collective ETFs could drain the entire public supply within one year. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com