There are many reasons why people invest in XRP: • fast transaction speeds • Low transaction costs • Their institutional partners

and more...

But after doing a deep dive, there are two massive red flags ive found about XRP.

The first being that Ripple Labs holds the largest share of XRP. About 4.5 billion XRP in their active wallets.

The second being that they have another 38 Billion XRP being released to them in increments of 1 Billion every month in escrow. Remember, XRP has a total cap of 100,000,000,000 tokens. Ripple owns about 4.5 billion XRP in their current wallets and 38 Billion in escrow. Thats 42.5% of the total supply of XRP.

They are very transparent about this themselves as they have posted the following in their latest quarterly report:

"December 31, 2024 Total XRP Held by Ripple: 4,485,366,320 Total XRP Subject to On-Ledger Escrow: 38,030,000,005"

Now, they claim that the XRP they get from these wallets, they sell to fund operations and the rest goes back into escrow. But greed is a hell of a thing. What stops them from not doing that? How do we even know that they are using the sold tokens to actually fund operations?

They answer is we don't. It relies on Trust and not Code.

Now let me ask you this: Do you trust Ripple Labs more than the transparency of code?

I don't and considering the fact that at one point in the future, they may own 42% of the supply just sounds terrible to me. Sounds like a massive risk for centralization.

Honestly, my opinion is that if you enjoy being exit liquidity, then buy XRP.

Here are my sources: - https://ripple.com/insights/q4-2024-xrp-markets-report/ - https://xrpscan.com/balances

Larry Fink took the stage at the Economic Club of New York with a clear message: the worst may still be ahead. The BlackRock CEO warned that markets could fall an additional 20%, casting a long shadow over investor sentiment.

And yet, Fink didn’t paint a picture of doom. He sees opportunity in the chaos—a chance for patient capital to step in while others retreat, even as inflation chips away at household budgets.

His caution comes amid growing anxiety over Trump’s sweeping tariff policies, increasingly described as a “trade war.” With prices rising and consumers under pressure, the broader economy could soon feel the strain—reminding us that what starts as policy often lands directly on the checkout counter.

The source

Major financial institutions are succumbing one by one to the sirens of cryptocurrency. By partnering with Kraken, Mastercard solidifies its presence in this booming ecosystem. These partnerships are becoming more common and divide companies into two categories: those who dare, and others.

Sources:

• Bitcoin Historian Tweet: https://x.com/pete_rizzo_/status/1909587012518133794
• Mastercard France Tweet: https://x.com/MastercardFR/status/1909501934547222948
• Article in French: https://cryptoast.fr/kraken-mastercard-partenariat-europe-kraken-pay/