Kristaps Grinbergs, a developer relations engineer at Flare, said the network has already formed the foundation for $XRP-focused decentralized finance.
He made this statement after reports confirmed a single 8 million $XRP stake on Flare’s staking protocol, Firelight. Notably, this stake transaction suggests that institutional investors are now increasingly entering the ecosystem.
Key Point
- Hugo Philion confirmed that an institution deployed 8 million $XRP into Firelight in a single transaction.
- Kristaps Grinbergs said the transaction shows Flare has built the foundation for $XRP-focused decentralized finance.
- Firelight recorded 9.014 million FXRP inflow on April 21, the largest in over a month and second highest this year.
- Total Firelight inflows have now hit 75.52 million FXRP, with 58.38 million FXRP net inflow.
- Flare’s TVL now stands at 155.7 million $XRP ($219.63 million), with Firelight taking a 32% share.
Firelight Records 8M $XRP Single Stake
Grinbergs’ comment came in response to a disclosure from Hugo Philion, Flare’s co-founder. In a post on X, Philion pointed out that Firelight recently recorded a single stake transaction involving 8 million FXRP and asked his audience to consider whether an institution was testing the protocol.
8m staked to Firelight in 1 transaction. I’ll leave you to consider whether that is an institution testing the waters…
— Hugo Philion (@HugoPhilion) April 22, 2026
He later provided better context, confirming that an institution, which he has chosen to keep anonymous, had indeed deployed funds into Firelight. He also clarified that the recent transaction represents a real commitment from the institution, not just a test.
Responding, Grinbergs urged investors to recognize what this means. According to him, Flare has already created a solid foundation for $XRP finance with FXRP and Firelight, adding that the team is still pushing forward.
On-Chain Data
On-chain data confirms the recent milestone. Specifically, as of April 21 at 13:00, Firelight recorded 9.014 million FXRP in inflows, with the single 8 million $XRP stake making up most of that amount. This became the largest hourly inflow in over a month and the second highest recorded this year.
The only bigger inflow happened earlier, when Firelight saw 15.442 million $XRP at 14:00 on March 18, 2026. The recent transaction pushed total inflows to 75.52 million FXRP, while outflows stood at 17.14 million FXRP. This leaves a net inflow of 58.38 million FXRP.
Across the broader network, Flare now holds a total value locked of 155.7 million $XRP, worth about $219.63 million. Of this figure, Firelight alone accounts for $71.59 million, which represents an over 32% share.
Flare Building XRPFi Foundation with FXRP and Firelight
Notably, Grinbergs’ comments considered the work deployed the Flare team into developing FXRP and Firelight for the $XRP ecosystem.
For the uninitiated, FXRP works as a non-custodial, overcollateralized version of $XRP, keeping a 1:1 value with the original asset. It runs on the Flare Network, allowing $XRP to be used in smart contracts. FXRP is the first working example of Flare’s FAssets system, which brings assets like $XRP into decentralized finance.
With FXRP, users can take part in activities such as lending, borrowing, staking, providing liquidity, and earning yields. These services are available across Flare’s ecosystem, including platforms like SparkDEX and BlazeSwap. This makes $XRP more useful by allowing it to be used in different DeFi applications.
Meanwhile, Firelight is an institutional-level staking and protection system on Flare developed in partnership with Sentora. The platform allows users to stake FXRP and receive stXRP, a liquid token that can still be used in DeFi while earning rewards.
Timeline and Key Growth Points
Notably, FXRP launched on the Flare mainnet in September 2025, with the initial minting limit set at 5 million FXRP in the first week. Within just 4 hours, investors hit the limit, with 5 million $XRP, worth $15 million at the time, already minted. This led the team to expand the limit sooner than expected.
In December 2025, Firelight officially went live, starting with Phase 1 focused on liquid staking through stXRP. Users could bridge $XRP, mint FXRP, and deposit it into Firelight’s Launch Vault to receive stXRP. Early demand was strong, and the initial deposit cap of around 25 million FXRP filled quickly.
The growth has continued into early 2026. By February 2026, 100 million $XRP had been converted into FXRP, with about 70% already used in DeFi. Firelight accounted for roughly 21% of all staked FXRP. Today, the figure has increased to 155.7 million $XRP, with Firelight taking up a 32% share.
