
It is, no doubt, a marvel—almost a comedy—why so many await XRP ETFs, as if the fate of civilization rested upon it. Some, with the innocence of peasants before a new plow, see these funds as the gentle hand that might lead cautious institutions into the wild pastures of altcoin investment, all neatly, without the perilous bother of buying XRP directly. Others imagine a surge of public frenzy, swelling XRP’s price to celestial heights to the smug delight of early acquirers. There is a childlike faith here, reminiscent of the way Russians once waited annually for the ice to break on the Volga: “Surely, this year the price will rise!” Perhaps. Or perhaps the ice will simply groan, crack a little, and remain stubbornly frozen.