Uphold President Nancy Beaton (낸시 비턴) said investor interest in XRP is rising among both retail and institutional investors.

On May 19, blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported that Beaton said at the recent XRP Las Vegas (XRPLV) event that retail investors are focusing on the possibility of directly monetising XRP, while institutional investors are watching a shift to blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

A key driver of retail interest is a lending function being prepared on the XRP Ledger. She said a structure that allows investors to earn returns while holding XRP is drawing attention.

The feature is being pursued in tandem with the XRP Ledger's XLS-66 lending protocol and the XLS-65 single-asset vault. Once introduced, users will be able to deposit funds into single-asset vaults centred on XRP or RLUSD and earn returns while keeping control of their assets on-chain. Borrowers will be able to access structured loans with fixed rates and set repayment periods, or unsecured loans, and a principal protection mechanism for first loss has also been designed.

The feature is still in a pre-launch stage. The XLS-66d amendment went to a validator vote after the release of XRPL v3.1.0 at the end of January 2026. It requires 80 percent approval for two consecutive weeks to be implemented, but support currently stands at 22.86 percent. Even so, Evernode disclosed plans to use the system, and the XRP community also discussed the possibility of tens of billions of dollars in annual returns.

Existing monetisation tools are already operating. The XRP Ledger introduced an automated market maker (AMM) function through XLS-30 in 2024, and liquidity providers can earn trading fees. For retail investors, that means more on-chain management options beyond simply holding assets.

Institutional interest is tied to tokenisation of real-world assets (RWA). Beaton stressed that traditional financial firms are moving to blockchain technology and that the XRP Ledger is positioned to benefit from that flow. She said the XRP Ledger's native support for tokenisation, fast transaction processing, low costs and built-in compliance features align with institutional demand.

Recent indicators also show that trend. The volume of tokenised RWA on the XRP Ledger rose by $1.4 billion over the past 30 days to reach $3.9 billion. It was counted as the fastest-growing network in the RWA sector over the period.

Institutional partnerships are also continuing. British digital asset exchange Archax provided tokenised access to asset manager abrdn's liquidity fund. Ondo Finance also launched its OUSG product, which tokenises U.S. Treasuries, on the XRP Ledger and linked it with RLUSD.

Overall, interest in XRP appears to be weighted more toward expanding use cases than the price itself. Retail investors are focusing on income opportunities through lending and liquidity provision, while institutions are watching the issuance of tokenised assets and the foundations for on-chain financial operations. Going forward, key variables for real demand on the XRP Ledger will remain whether validators approve the XLS-66d amendment and whether tokenised products for institutions expand.

ripple:native is capturing attention worldwide. The XRP community has its reasons. Institutions have theirs.@UpholdInc President Nancy @BeatonBoulder breaks down both in the latest XRP In One Minute: https://t.co/HQZjZQFDPU pic.twitter.com/AnNF8LQVot