Why industrial businesses are choosing XRPL over Ethereum
The shift in leadership is driven by fundamental differences in the networks’ architecture. Unlike Ethereum, where issuing assets involves unpredictable gas costs and requires developers to write complex smart contracts, $XRP Ledger lets users tokenize real-world assets at the protocol level. Its built-in IOU mechanism reduces transaction costs to fractions of a cent, while settlement takes just 3–5 seconds.
The main driver that enabled XRPL to overtake Ethereum was the energy sector. The largest share of liquidity came from the launch of tokenized electricity-generation contracts, JMWH, by Latin American company Justoken.
Where the new money is going
According to on-chain data from RWA.xyz as of October 5, 2026, XRPL’s rise to the top triggered a sharp increase in activity across the network:
- Monthly RWA transfer volume increased more than 224-fold, reaching a record $7.03 billion.
- The total value of represented assets (Represented Asset Value) rose 56% in 30 days to $4.52 billion.
- XRPL’s stablecoin market capitalization reached $1.25 billion, largely thanks to the integration of the new native token RLUSD. Monthly stablecoin turnover totaled $5.01 billion.
Alongside the commodities market, major players from adjacent RWA sectors are beginning to adopt XRPL infrastructure. The ecosystem now includes investment fund Franklin Templeton ($48.3 million), platform Ondo Finance ($187.5 million), and Middle Eastern developer DAMAC, which tokenized pools of ownership stakes in premium Dubai real estate projects Park Ridge Tower, Prive, and J One.
Ethereum retains global dominance in the total value of RWA assets locked, primarily thanks to U.S. government bonds. But in physical goods and commodities, industrial capital has shown a clear preference for Ripple-backed technology.
