Ripple’s native coin XRP is gradually, but surely transitioning into a core institutional asset. In the latest interview segment, Grayscale’s Head of Product and Research Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary has dropped some rare knowledge on the direction of Grayscale & Ripple’s mutual work to bring worldwide trading on-chain.
Grayscale’s Product Chief Sees Big Institutional Break For XRP
“To me, the on-chain economy represents the growing set of applications, assets & activity that operates natively on blockchains rather than traditional infrastructure”. A potential Ripple-based exchange-traded fund would mark the beginning of a heavy institutional inflow from Grayscale beyond just Bitcoin (BTC) & Ethereum (ETH).
Moreover, Grayscale’s Ms. Sharif-Askary pointed out the “game-tested” nature of Ripple’s XRP – the parent company of this OG altcoin has often been a hot topic in the press due to the recently won legal case against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As Ripple Labs got cleared for allegedly selling XRP coins as ‘unregistered securities’, a new all-time high followed. In June 2025, Ripple’s XRP price hit a price discovery note to trade at $3.65 at one point. At the same time, the globe’s financial heavyweights have stormed into the SEC’s office with multiple Ripple-based ETF pitches.
Ripple’s ETF Garnered $1.21B: Here’s Where Big Potential Lies
Grayscale’s GXRP is among the three approved & activated Ripple-based ETF products on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The early Wall Street success is backed by numbers – with a $1.21 billion pulled in total across all 5 Ripple-based ETFs, bigger names like Grayscale, Franklin Templeton & Bitwise are still trailing Canary Capital.
The Australian hedge funds operate on a smaller level, but their ETF product, ticker XRPC, is the only one currently trading on NASDAQ, as well as the first-ever to see the light of day. Typically, this symbolizes plenty of room for potential – with Canary testing the waters, Grayscale, Bitwise & Franklin Templeton could significantly up their institutional XRP stake.
On The Flipside
- Out of the 5 currently-running Ripple ETFs, only 21Shares has a negative balance sheet with nearly $24 million in outflows since the ETF’s inception.
Why This Matters
A popular product in traditional stock markets enables a completely different magnitude of exposure, making XRP a foundational stock asset rather than a speculative crypto currency.
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People Also Ask:
She’s Grayscale’s Head of Product and Research (Managing Director). In a March 2026 Ripple Onchain Economy interview, she described XRP as a “battle-tested blockchain” that’s been proven over time for fast, efficient cross-border payments.
Sharif-Askary highlighted surging institutional curiosity—advisors get constant client questions about XRP (often second only to Bitcoin).
She frames XRP in the “currency sector” of diversified crypto exposure—distinct from smart-contract platforms like Ethereum. It’s not about dApps but reliable, fast value transfer globally.
