XRP Ledger's TVL has fallen dramatically in the past year...

@Ripple's $XRP Ledger is facing a stark contradiction. Its stablecoin supply has exploded to nearly $800M, yet the amount of capital actually put to work inside the network's decentralized finance ecosystem tells a very different story.

A 67% Collapse in Locked Capital

According to DefiLlama data, the XRP Ledger's total value locked (TVL) currently sits at approximately $39M, down from a high of nearly $120M reached in July 2025. That represents a decline of roughly 67% in less than a year. DefiLlama shows XRPL's TVL at around $47M, the entire DeFi ecosystem on a chain whose native token carries an $84 billion market cap. For context, Solana carries roughly $4 billion in TVL, while Ethereum holds over $40 billion.

XRP's DeFi layer is a rounding error relative to its valuation, which means the market cap is still overwhelmingly driven by speculative positioning and ETF expectations rather than capital locked into productive on-chain activity.

Stablecoins Surge, But DeFi Lags

The contrast with stablecoin growth is hard to ignore. DefiLlama tracked the XRPL stablecoin supply at roughly $770M, up nearly 97% over the last 30 days. Ripple's own RLUSD stablecoin accounts for the lion's share, with its supply on the XRP Ledger surging by nearly 47% in seven days to reach over $696M.

Ripple's RLUSD has taken the driver's seat in this upward trajectory, though for most of 2025, stablecoin activity on XRPL stagnated, with liquidity frequently moving in and out rather than staying on-chain. This started to change around November, when supply broke above $200M and entered a sustained upward trend carrying into 2026.

The divergence between rising stablecoin supply and falling TVL suggests that liquidity is flowing through the ledger rather than being deployed into DeFi protocols. XRPL's growing activity is increasingly driven by RLUSD and tokenized assets that flow through XRP as a bridge currency but do not create sustained demand for the token. Whether that dynamic shifts as the ecosystem matures remains an open question for builders and investors watching the chain.

Sources:
DefiLlama: XRPL Chain Overview
CoinDesk: XRP Ledger Activity vs. Price Disconnect
Finbold: XRP Ledger Stablecoin Supply Crosses $1 Billion