The performance of the XRP network certainly shows a certain level of dominance that occurred after the launch of ETFs.
XRP transformation continues
We cannot ignore the structural shift revealed by XRP's on-chain and market behavior over the past month. With the trading of XRP ETFs starting, the asset is moving into a new liquidity system, where sudden increases in trading activity have become the new norms instead of anomalies. The price structure, market depth, and network metrics are already showing this shift.
Payment count data, which sits at the upper end of its recent one-month range, consistently shows high productivity. Despite weak pricing, XRP continues to process nearly one million transactions daily, indicating stable underlying demand.
As for the size of the payments, which is a much more volatile indicator, it has shown regular significant increases, especially on November 14, as well as in late November and early December. These increases, which often coincide with times of high trading volume, indicate rises in high-value transfers.
Waiting for XRP confirmation
This is significant because institutional desks and automated auditors represent a completely new class of liquidity participants introduced through ETF trading. Instead of slow organic trends, their activity tends to produce sudden and irregular trading flows. Therefore, increases in trading liquidity have become a reality for XRP, and investors should expect these increases to frequently distort traditional metrics in the future.
XRP remains trapped in its downward channel in terms of price. The long-term structure is still dominated by sellers, but the lower boundary of the channel holds, indicating weak downward pressure. The wait-and-see stance in the market is highlighted by the Relative Strength Index (RSI) remaining steady in the mid-forties, indicating neither overbought nor oversold conditions. The overall declining trend in volume supports the idea that the price is in a "consolidation" phase for increased volatility.
When these indicators are combined, they suggest that the market is preparing for more significant liquidity shocks with rising ETF volumes. Increases in exchange holdings or payments, often caused by ETF arbitrage, rebalancing, or custodial movement, should no longer be interpreted automatically as accumulation or distribution.
