Key stakeholders in the Ripple-backed XRPL ecosystem want the chain to be optimized to drive institutional DeFi strategies and capital deployment similar to Ethereum’s “yield vaults.”
In a recent statement, Evernoth, a leading XRP treasury company, said it will make the upcoming “XRP lending protocol” its primary digital asset strategy.
“It (the lending protocol) is what we think could be a fundamental shift in how institutional liquidity moves on-chain.”
According to Ashesh BirlaCEO of Enernorth, this move will further boost XRP DeFi.
“By participating in this native lending ecosystem, Evernorth aims to help unlock what could be a multi-billion dollar annual yield opportunity for the XRP community.”
Source: X/Asheesh Birla
For the company, the lending protocol is the “missing piece” for XRP DeFi. THE upgradealso known as XLS-66, is currently on a testnet and is looking to enable single asset vaults to generate fixed rate loans.
Status of XRPL DeFi
Although the XRPL DeFi ecosystem has seen some traction since 2025, the chain lags behind its rivals in the top 10 assets by market cap.
At press time, the TVL (total value locked) of its DeFi ecosystem had increased from around $100 million to $60 million.
Source: DeFiLlama
In contrast, its closest rivals, BNB Channel and Solana, held $6.5 billion and $9.3 billion in TVL, respectively. This indicates that both chains have greater DeFi liquidity and, by extension, higher investor confidence than XRPL.
Although the chain has entered into several institutional partnerships, notably with Japan’s Gumi and SBI, its DeFi business lags behind its perceived peers. It remains to be seen how the upcoming lending protocol upgrade will help it close the DeFi gap with its rivals.
However, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is among the fastest growing and recently surpassed $1 billion in supply.
XRP whales give mixed signals
On the market side, 42 wallets containing over 1 million XRP tokens returned for the first time since September. Their recent accumulation spree was an “encouraging sign for the altcoin’s long-term prospects,” note Santiment analysis company.
Source: Santiment
However, according to the 30-day XRPL Whale Flow, major XRP players are still net sellers at press time. But it is worth emphasizing that this pressure eased slightly in January, as shown by the slow rise in the indicator.
If the metric reaches the neutral position or becomes positive, a company XRP Price altcoin recovery could be likely. At press time, XRP was consolidating its recent losses around $1.7, awaiting the next broader market direction.
Source: CryptoQuant
Final Thoughts
- XRP treasury company Evernorth was betting on the upcoming “lending protocol” upgrade as a key DeFi unlock and strategy.
- XRP whales have given mixed signals; wallets containing +1 million XRP tokens were reclaimed to slow accumulation, but some were still throwing away their stash.
