Are big banks actually buying XRP? Goldman Sachs exits
The narrative surrounding XRP often paints a picture of imminent, massive global banking adoption. With the token trading around $1.15, headlines frequently suggest that Wall Street is aggressively loading up.
However, recent institutional filings, partnership terms, and product launches paint a completely different picture. The reality of who is actually buying XRP—and who is just using the tech around it—comes down to concrete data, News.Az reports, citing MSN.
The XRP community spent months tracking Goldman Sachs’ massive position. In late 2025, the banking giant disclosed a $153.8 million stake spread across four spot XRP ETFs, representing nearly three-quarters of all top institutional holdings combined.
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However, Goldman's Q1 filing revealed the bank completely liquidated that entire position by March 31. Bloomberg analysts noted the initial stake was likely just trading desk inventory held to facilitate client orders rather than a long-term bullish bet by the bank itself.
On the flip side, Morgan Stanley entered the XRP space for the first time, disclosing roughly $15,488 across two XRP funds. While technically an entry, a $15,000 position against Morgan Stanley's $1.66 trillion portfolio is smaller than many retail accounts.
Crucially, XRP ETFs still pulled in $60.5 million during the week Goldman’s exit became public. Retail investors and smaller funds are keeping the inflows steady, but major bank balance sheets are largely absent.
Confusion often arises because a bank partnering with Ripple is frequently conflated with a bank buying XRP.
Ripple has secured ten major partnerships this year with heavyweights like Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, JPMorgan, and Mastercard. Yet, none of these agreements require the institutions to purchase or hold XRP:
Deutsche Bank is utilizing Ripple's software for cross-border payments, foreign exchange, and digital asset custody, explicitly avoiding token adoption.
Société Générale used the XRP Ledger to launch its own euro stablecoin (EURCV). Utilizing the network infrastructure is vastly different from buying the underlying asset.
RLUSD, Ripple’s USD-pegged stablecoin, handles the actual settlement for these institutional products, while XRP is used only to cover fractions of a cent in network fees.
Even Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product—which actively utilizes the token as a bridge currency—is only used by about 40% of RippleNet's 300+ partners. Furthermore, ODL buys and sells XRP within seconds to settle transactions, meaning it generates transaction volume rather than long-term asset accumulation on bank balance sheets.
The closest thing to genuine institutional distribution is happening in Japan. SBI Shinsei Bank launched a three-month pilot program allowing 4.33 million depositors to receive vouchers worth 20% of their interest payments, redeemable for Bitcoin, Ethereum, or XRP.
While individual rewards are modest—a $6,200 deposit yields roughly $10 worth of crypto annually—the program forces SBI's exchange arm to actively source XRP. SBI Holdings has been Ripple’s closest financial ally for years, meaning this program is an extension of a long-term corporate relationship rather than a sudden shift in global banking trends.
Big banks are not accumulating XRP in any meaningful size supported by public records. Despite the SEC and CFTC jointly classifying XRP as a commodity, removing the primary regulatory roadblock, banks have not rushed to buy.
The next clear look at institutional sentiment will come when Q2 13F filings are released, showing whether any major banks bought the dip below $1.20. Until then, new banking announcements signify a win for Ripple's software infrastructure, while actual XRP accumulation remains largely retail-driven.
By Aysel Mammadzada
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