Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said XRP's appeal among institutional investors, particularly financial advisors, is built on two straightforward considerations: confidence that the asset will persist and familiarity with its use cases. His remarks were published by Token Relations on Sept. 28, 2026, alongside data showing net assets in US XRP exchange-traded funds rose 80% through the third quarter to a record $1.77 billion.
Hougan argued that many advisors still ask whether crypto assets are genuine, whether they will last, and whether they will be available years later. He said XRP's long operating record and substantial background answer that question in a way newer tokens often cannot. That durability matters for portfolio construction because advisors must judge whether a holding will remain a functioning market years later, when accounts are reviewed, rebalanced, or passed on.
The second reason is practical familiarity. Hougan said XRP fits real-world applications advisors already understand: stablecoins, cross-currency transfers, and the liquidity needed to complete those transfers. Those topics appear in conventional market coverage, so the investment case can be discussed in language closer to payments, foreign exchange, and market plumbing than to a purely speculative token story.
Hougan separated durability from short-term price performance, saying the token "appeals for very simple reasons." The record $1.77 billion in ETF net assets was used as background by Token Relations. Later flow data indicated that asset totals and new subscriptions can diverge once the underlying price moves, consistent with that distinction. Cumulative inflows remained large after the Sept. 25 peak, while mark-to-market asset values eased as XRP's price changed.
Bitwise is itself an issuer in the XRP ETF market. The Bitwise XRP ETF trades on NYSE Arca and charges a 0.34% annual expense ratio. Updated fund materials around the end of September kept the offering current as shares continued to be issued. Other sponsors, including Franklin, have also gathered substantial cumulative inflows, so the advisor channel is not confined to a single product.
Hougan's account describes a narrow form of institutional interest: not every institution is allocating, and XRP has not displaced bitcoin as the default crypto holding. Instead, some advisors with access to exchange-listed vehicles find XRP easier to underwrite because of its record of permanence and established applications in stablecoins, cross-currency transfer, and liquidity.
