Ripple’s $200 Million Credit Line Fuels Institutional Push as Korean Retail Traders Dominate XRP Volume

The gap between institutional ambition and retail speculation in the XRP market has rarely been wider. Ripple has secured a $200 million credit facility from Neuberger Specialty Finance to expand lending through its Prime platform, while South Korean cash is flooding into the token at a pace that leaves Bitcoin and Ethereum trailing. Yet the spot price of XRP hovers around $1.42, barely budging.

Ripple Prime, built from last year’s acquisition of Hidden Road, has tripled its revenue year-over-year. The new credit line is designed to support margin financing across equities, bonds, foreign exchange and digital assets — a deliberate move to serve institutional clients that demand multi-asset clearing capacity. “Whoever wants to win large market participants needs liquidity, credit capacity and settlement security,” the platform’s strategy implies.

That institutional infrastructure is being tested immediately. Crossover Markets launched CROSSx Disclosed on May 13, a platform pulling liquidity from more than 30 OTC providers, with Ripple Prime acting as prime broker for netting and settlement. Its matching engine can handle up to one million orders per second. In parallel, Ripple is building automated market-maker infrastructure for banks in Brazil through partnerships with UDAX, Levery and FGV, and pursuing a VASP license to cement its regulatory footing in Latin America.

But while Ripple pushes deeper into traditional finance, the retail crowd in South Korea is piling into XRP for entirely different reasons. On Upbit, the country’s largest exchange, the XRP/KRW pair logged $110.9 million in volume over the past 24 hours — ahead of Bitcoin’s $88.6 million and Ether’s $67 million. On Bithumb, XRP claimed the second slot but still ranked above both BTC and ETH.

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According to Ryan Yoon, an analyst at Tiger Research, the buying is driven by Korean investors in their 40s and 50s who are rotating capital out of a weakening stock market. The Kospi fell sharply Tuesday after comments from presidential advisors raised questions about how AI-related profits would be taxed. XRP is familiar territory for these traders — many held the token during the 2017-2018 cycle. A structural quirk amplifies the focus: South Korean exchanges are banned from offering futures or leveraged products, pushing risk-seeking traders toward XRP as the closest substitute for raw volatility.

Price action tells a different story. XRP is down roughly 3% on the day, trading near $1.42, and the resistance zone between $1.49 and $1.50 has held firm since February. An estimated 60% of the circulating supply sits close to current levels — a dense layer of break-even sellers that absorbs any attempted recovery. Year-to-date, the token has shed 23.8%.

Beneath the surface, however, accumulation continues. On-chain data from Santiment shows the number of wallets holding at least 10,000 XRP reached an all-time high of 332,230 on May 12, a trend that has been building since mid-2024. Santiment interprets the steady rise in mid-to-large wallets as a signal of conviction among investors less focused on short-term price swings.

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Institutions are also adding exposure through regulated vehicles. On May 11, XRP spot ETFs recorded net inflows of $25.8 million — the strongest daily figure since January. Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ led with $13.6 million, followed by Bitwise at $7.6 million and Grayscale at $4.6 million. Cumulative net inflows since launch now stand at $1.35 billion, while total net assets held in XRP ETFs have reached $1.44 billion.

The next catalyst could come from Washington. On May 14, the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is scheduled for a markup in the Senate Banking Committee — a formal step toward a full floor vote. The bill aims to clarify the classification of digital assets and delineate the jurisdictions of the SEC and CFTC. More than 100 amendments have been filed, keeping the outcome uncertain, but the definition of “network tokens” could specifically benefit XRP’s legal status regarding secondary market sales. If the legislation clears the committee, it would provide a concrete reason for a revaluation of the token.

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