XRP traded lower early Tuesday before recovering some losses, as the broader cryptocurrency market faced pressure from rising oil prices and concerns about global risk appetite.
The market weakness comes as crypto analyst “Ellio Trades” warns that XRP could eventually lose its place among the largest cryptocurrencies if Ripple fails to turn its partnerships and blockchain infrastructure into meaningful demand for the token.
In a YouTube video on Monday, Ellio argued that competing networks are advancing in financial services and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, two areas closely tied to XRP’s long-standing investment narrative.
“XRP’s biggest threat could be other cryptos delivering what XRP holders have been hoping for for almost a decade,” he said.
The analyst warned that XRP investors could miss out on growth elsewhere if competing projects attract businesses, developers and institutional capital while the XRP ecosystem struggles to expand.
Notably, Ellio questioned whether XRP can maintain its traditional role as a cryptocurrency designed to support international payments, especially as stablecoins gain traction for cross-border value transfers.
Unlike XRP, whose market price fluctuates, stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC are designed to maintain a relatively stable value against the US dollar. That feature can make them more suitable for payments where senders and recipients need predictable settlement amounts.
The analyst also argued that some of Ripple’s banking partnerships have benefited the company’s payment infrastructure without necessarily generating equivalent demand for XRP.
He distinguished between institutions using RippleNet and activity on the XRP Ledger, suggesting that partnerships alone do not show whether the token itself is capturing value.
For XRP to strengthen its position, Ellio believes Ripple must demonstrate that its technology is being used in ways that create sustained demand for the cryptocurrency.
The analyst further identified real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, which brings assets such as stocks, bonds and real estate onto blockchains, as an opportunity for Ripple. However, he said the XRP Ledger lags behind Ethereum, BNB Chain and Solana in attracting tokenized assets and building active markets.
Ellio cautioned that the total value of assets represented on a blockchain does not necessarily reflect genuine economic activity. He said XRP needs to attract actively traded assets and build an ecosystem where businesses use the network, rather than relying on isolated partnerships.
“XRP needs to grow this business. They need to climb the leaderboards,” he said.
He suggested that Ripple could support developers, expand its ecosystem, and attract major traditional financial institutions to build services directly on the XRP Ledger.
The concerns are not limited to Ellio. XRP community member John Squire recently called on Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse to ensure the company’s partnerships deliver tangible benefits for token holders, not just partnerships.
“XRP investors are tired,” Squire said. “We believe in the Ripple vision, but people need to see that progress reflected in XRP’s price. Hope needs results, Brad.”
Meanwhile, Santiment recently reported that XRP’s bullish-to-bearish social commentary ratio fell to 0.67 in early October, its lowest reading since August 17. A reading below 1.0 indicates that bearish comments outnumber bullish ones across the social platforms the analytics firm tracks.
However, Santiment noted that widespread pessimism can sometimes create contrarian opportunities, though it doesn’t guarantee an immediate recovery.
XRP’s on-chain activity also presents a mixed picture. The 90-day moving average of whale outflows from Binance reportedly dropped to $49.7 million in October, down from $3.5 billion in February 2025, when XRP traded near $3.30.
Lower outflows may suggest large investors are accumulating less aggressively, though the metric alone cannot establish their intentions.
On the technical side, analyst Ali Martinez identified $1.25 as an important support level. He suggested that holding it could support a recovery toward $2, while a sustained move above $1.56 would strengthen that outlook. A break below $1.25 could expose XRP to further losses toward $1.