$XRP is moving beyond its own ledger faster than most observers are tracking. In the past week alone, the token has been bridged to Solana, purchased through WhatsApp via a Solana-based chatbot, and continued pulling steady inflows through its ETF. Analyst Jim Bazzani says the market has not connected the dots yet, and that disconnect may be the opportunity.
“I don’t think that everybody’s putting this together,” Bazzani said in a recent interview. “This is so bullish because it locks up real $XRP on the $XRP Ledger.”
When $XRP is bridged to Solana, the underlying tokens are locked on the $XRP Ledger. That is real supply being removed from circulation to support activity on one of crypto’s most active DeFi ecosystems, a dynamic that compounds quietly with every new integration.
Solana Opens a New Audience
Bazzani’s view is that Solana’s DeFi ecosystem gives $XRP access to an entirely new user base, people who have never considered $XRP before but will now encounter it through protocols they already use daily.
“You can imagine there’d be a lot of people on the Solana ecosystem that have never used $XRP before but are now looking to buy some and start to play around with what they can do,” he said.
Onchain Lending Is the Missing Piece
On the $XRP Ledger itself, a single pending amendment called XLS-66 stands between the current state and a fully functioning DeFi ecosystem. AMM liquidity pools are already live. Once XLS-66 passes, onchain lending follows.
“As soon as that goes live, we’ll have onchain lending,” Bazzani said. The significance is clear given recent events. The Kelp DAO exploit exposed the risks of leaving a native chain to find yield. Building yield generation directly on the $XRP Ledger removes that vulnerability entirely.
ETFs Are Just the Entry Point
On institutional adoption, Bazzani sees ETF inflows as a gateway rather than a destination. Investors enter through the ETF, learn the ecosystem, then move to direct exposure. He described $XRP ETF performance since launch as “nothing short of really impressive.”
“Fundamentally, things have probably never been better,” he said. “It’s just very frustrating because it’s obviously not reflected today in the price.”
That gap, in Bazzani’s view, will not stay open forever.
