Well, it looks like XRP is facing a bit of a headwind, and it’s not just about the price. While the broader crypto market has been all over the place lately, something else seems to be slipping for XRP—its presence in decentralized finance, or DeFi.
Numbers from XRPSCAN tell a pretty clear story. As of August 28, the amount of XRP tied up in automated market maker pools on the XRP Ledger has dipped to just under 11.73 million tokens. That’s a drop, and it takes us back to levels we haven’t seen since last November. Not exactly a crash, but it makes you wonder.
AMM Liquidity Takes a Hit
Earlier this year, things were looking up. Locked liquidity actually climbed above 14 million XRP at one point. But now, with confidence seeming a little shaky, that number has pulled back. Maybe people are getting cautious. Or maybe it’s just part of the cycle—it’s hard to say.
And it’s not just the AMM pools. The number of XRP trading pairs on the ledger isn’t exploding either. Right now it’s sitting at 19,953. Active pools did grow a bit, up to 22,053 by late August, but not by much. The vibe, at least from the data, is that enthusiasm might be cooling off.
It feels like some liquidity providers are quietly pulling out, maybe spooked by the same market uncertainty that’s been hanging around for months. And honestly, who can blame them? The price of XRP itself has been struggling to hold above $3, with plenty of ups and downs along the way.
But TVL Isn’t Budging
Here’s where it gets interesting, though. Even with less XRP locked in those AMM pools, the total value locked across the entire XRP Ledger hasn’t moved. It’s steady at $99.47 million, according to DefiLlama. No gain, no loss—just flat.
The XRPL DEX is still the big player, with close to $80 million in TVL, though it did see a small dip this past week. So things aren’t exactly booming, but they’re not collapsing either. It’s more like a pause.
One mildly positive note? Stablecoin activity on the ledger actually inched upward recently. The stablecoin market cap rose about 2.2% in a week, landing around $168 million. So it’s not all pullbacks and worry.
What does all this mean? It’s hard to be certain. Maybe people are just waiting on the sidelines, unsure where things are headed next. Or perhaps this is just a natural cooldown after earlier activity. Either way, it’s worth keeping an eye on.
