XRP's Real Test Remains Beyond Technical Strengths, Former Adviser Says

Former Ripple CBDC adviser Anthony Welfare remarked on the AllinCrypto Podcast that the XRP Ledger has strong technical capabilities. These strengths alone, however, will not ensure adoption.

Institutions are evaluating the network, while a recent Nasdaq listing has brought XRP to the attention of stock market investors.

What the XRP Ledger Brings to Finance

The XRPL's capabilities are well-tailored for payments and tokenization, but Welfare argues that technology is only one component. Several practical considerations will influence whether institutions actually adopt it.

“When you see a lot of the things that are put out about XRP and its kind of ecosystem and Ripple as a company, and to set the stage even further there, it being this kind of like new financial system that can solve correspondent banking and that everybody can do all these use cases on and that our new financial system can run upon,” Welfare stated.

Welfare highlighted several key points:

• Speed, low costs, and a native decentralized exchange make it suited for payments and tokenization.
• The XRP token is separate from the XRP Ledger, allowing institutions to use ledger functions without relying on the asset.
• Liquidity, custody, compliance, and interoperability serve as bridges between technical readiness and real-world application.
• “The tech is there,” he mentioned, citing his experience advising central banks and working on payment projects.
• Private blockchains are expected to grow first, with some activity later migrating to public networks.

He also sees a role for auditable records that AI agents can trust, which requires dependable transaction layers. Stablecoins could lower payment friction and create new orchestration opportunities for existing players, rather than displacing them.

Is Recent Momentum Enough to Drive Adoption?

Events over the past month support that perspective. A European consortium is aiming for euro stablecoin adoption across multiple networks, including the XRP Ledger.

This multi-network strategy aligns with Welfare's view of a multi-chain future. He sees interoperability, rather than dominance by one chain, as the primary commercial opportunity.

The IMF has mapped the XRP Ledger alongside other public ledgers in its discussions of tokenized finance. Ripple has also expanded its partnerships, including offering Ripple Prime services for Brevan Howard.

An integration with DriveWealth uses RLUSD on the XRP Ledger to accelerate global funding. Each development shows the ledger in a different capacity, from settlement to funding.

After opening at $16.68 and briefly hitting $19.38, the stock closed at $16.91 on Monday, October 12.

Congratulations to our friends at @evernorthxrp on their Nasdaq debut!

Evernorth represents a new milestone for the XRP ecosystem, putting XRP to work via institutional strategies, and expanding with the network as new capabilities are introduced.

Proud to partner with… pic.twitter.com/XZ1iOqKFJm

— Ripple (@Ripple) October 14, 2026

On Wednesday, October 14, XRPN closed at $15.26, a decline of 7.40%. That gives traditional investors stock-market exposure to a large XRP treasury, without buying tokens directly.

Against that backdrop, the XRP price has risen 1.72% over the past 24 hours, according to BeInCrypto data. It trades near $1.34 as of mid-October, and price action remains volatile.

Nevertheless, whether this institutional activity turns into lasting demand remains an open question.