XRP holds near $1.08 as T. Rowe Price ETF targets institutional flows

T. Rowe Price's new actively managed crypto ETF allocated nearly 10% of its portfolio to XRP, giving the token three times its market-cap weighting in a bet that traditional asset managers are warming to the token.

XRP traded at $1.08 as of 08:56 UTC on Friday, little changed over the past 24 hours, as two developments bolstered its institutional standing. T. Rowe Price launched TKNZ, the first actively managed multi-crypto ETF, on NYSE Arca on July 16 with about $15 million in initial assets — and allocated 9.37% of the fund to XRP, roughly three times its share of the total crypto market.

"The fund's overweight to XRP reflects our view that the token's legal clarity and payment corridor use case justify a larger position than passive weighting would allow," Blue Macellari, head of digital assets at T. Rowe Price and lead portfolio manager for TKNZ, said in a statement accompanying the launch. Macellari has led the firm's digital assets desk since 2022 and manages the fund alongside four co-portfolio managers.

TKNZ's opening portfolio allocated 40.75% to Bitcoin, 18.42% to Ethereum, 11.01% to BNB, 9.44% to Solana and 9.37% to XRP, with smaller positions in Hyperliquid, Stellar and Dogecoin. The fund charges 0.75% until May 31, 2027, then 0.90%, according to its prospectus. Anchorage Digital holds the underlying coins, and the fund does not currently stake any proof-of-stake assets.

The launch comes as US lawmakers debate a crypto market structure bill that could clarify whether tokens like XRP are securities or commodities — a question that has hung over the token since the SEC sued Ripple Labs in December 2020. A favorable classification would remove a key legal overhang that has limited institutional participation in XRP relative to Bitcoin and Ethereum, both of which have SEC-approved spot ETFs.

ETF allocation signals institutional conviction

T. Rowe Price's decision to overweight XRP by roughly 200% relative to its market-cap weight marks a departure from the passive index funds that dominate the crypto ETF landscape. Most multi-crypto ETFs track fixed indices that mirror each token's share of the total market, meaning Bitcoin at about 55% gets the largest allocation. TKNZ's active structure lets managers bet on tokens they expect to outperform.

Hyperliquid received the most aggressive overweight: the token, which makes up about 0.66% of the crypto market, got 6.45% of TKNZ — roughly 10 times its proportional weight. HYPE has gained about 150% this year while Bitcoin fell roughly 45%, according to CoinGecko data.

Regulatory bill could reshape XRP's outlook

The crypto market structure bill advancing through Congress would assign digital asset classification authority to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for tokens deemed sufficiently decentralized, potentially removing XRP from SEC jurisdiction. The bill's passage would mark the most significant US crypto legislation since the 2022 market downturn.

For XRP, the combination of institutional ETF access and potential regulatory clarity creates a dual catalyst that few altcoins can match. The token's next resistance sits at $1.15, a level it has not breached since March, with support at $0.95, according to CoinGecko data.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.