XRP ETFs Put In $1.79 Billion but Hold $1.66 Billion. Why Are They the Only Major Crypto ETFs Underwater?
Investors keep pouring money into XRP ETFs week after week, yet the funds grow further from breaking even. A closer look at the timing and price of those purchases reveals why XRP faces a problem Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana simply…
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Investors have poured $1.79 billion into U.S. spot XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) ETFs, but these funds now hold only $1.66 billion, according to SoSoValue. This means that, on average, each dollar invested in XRP ETFs is now worth about 7% less than what investors initially paid, based on the total inflows and outflows since the first fund launched in November 2025.
In contrast, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) ETFs have all outperformed their initial investments. So, what’s causing XRP funds to be the only major crypto ETFs in the red?
XRP ETFs Hold $133 Million Less Than Investors Put In
The difference between a fund’s total net inflow and its net assets is telling. Net inflow represents the total money investors put in minus what they’ve pulled out. Net assets, by contrast, reflect the current market value of the coins the fund holds. When net assets fall below net inflow, it indicates that the coins have lost value since investors bought them.
This decline in value is exactly what has happened to the seven U.S. spot XRP funds. As of October 4, XRP was trading at $1.50, down 51% from around $3 just a year earlier and down 19% since the start of 2026.
Much of the money came into these funds when XRP was priced above $2 after their launch in November 2025, meaning those coins are now worth less than what investors originally paid.
For XRP funds to match investors’ initial contributions, XRP needs to climb about 8% to roughly $1.62, assuming their XRP holdings remain unchanged. Unfortunately, average XRP holders over the past year are also seeing losses.
Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana ETFs All Hold More Than Their Inflows
The other three major fund groups are thriving, as SoSoValue reports:
| Fund Group | Total Net Inflow | Net Assets | Gain or Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| XRP | $1.79 billion | $1.66 billion | -7% |
| Bitcoin | $57.6 billion | $109.3 billion | +90% |
| Ethereum | $13.8 billion | $17.7 billion | +28% |
| Solana | $1.61 billion | $1.91 billion | +19% |
Timing helps explain much of the performance gap. Spot Bitcoin ETFs started trading in January 2024, when Bitcoin was priced below $50,000. This means early investors bought at much lower prices than today’s price of approximately $85,000 as of October 4. Conversely, XRP fund investors began buying when prices were already above $2 and have had less than a year to see returns.
Even smaller funds reflect this issue. Funds holding Hedera (CRYPTO: HBAR) have faced a similar situation—taking in $114 million yet now holding only $80 million, a decline of about 30%. However, since Hedera’s funds are much smaller, XRP remains the only major crypto fund group in this position.
XRP ETF Buyers Kept Adding Money Below Cost
Interestingly, the shortfall doesn’t stem from investors selling their holdings. XRP funds received $121 million in September and have posted net inflows for 11 consecutive weeks. Bitwise leads with total net inflows of about $676 million, followed by Franklin Templeton at $501 million and Canary at $489 million.
Buying activity has also continued into October, with XRP funds seeing $4 million on September 28 and another $4 million on October 1—more than the $3 million that exited on October 2. This left a net inflow of about $5 million for that week, following a surge of $75 million in just four days the previous week.
However, ongoing inflows are not keeping pace with initial expectations. JPMorgan previously projected that the funds might see up to $8 billion in first-year inflows, but they’ve attracted less than a quarter of that amount. Such modest inflows cannot offset the decline in XRP’s price since the funds launched.
Why Are XRP ETFs the Only Major Crypto Funds Underwater?
So why are XRP ETFs facing this unique challenge? Simply put, their value dropped after most investments came in—not because of withdrawals. These funds started with XRP priced above $2, but now it’s trading at $1.50.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin funds began their buying strategies much earlier at significantly lower prices. As a result, the current value of XRP ETFs is closely tied to XRP’s price; small weekly inflows cannot close the $133 million gap created by the drop.
To recover, XRP needs to rise above $1.62. Crossing this threshold would bring the average XRP ETF investment back to break-even, allowing the funds to join Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana in positive territory. On the flip side, if XRP continues to slide while weekly inflows remain low, each additional dollar invested only deepens the hole, widening the gap between current value and what investors initially paid.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
