At the ongoing Ripple Swell conference, Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg offered one of his strongest endorsements of XRP long-term position in global finance.
He stated that the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is emerging as a direct competitor to traditional Wall Street rails. His latest comments add to a series of bullish statements about XRP, including his well-known prediction of a $10 billion institutional inflow into XRP ETFs.
XRP Ledger as Financial Rails Competing with Wall Street
Speaking at Swell, McClurg described the XRP Ledger as a modern payments backbone to rival legacy systems.
“The way to think about XRP is to think of it as the XRP Ledger, and what that is, is financial rails,” he said. “Think about it as a competition for the financial system or competition on Wall Street. It’s the rails ecosystem that will help drive global payments.”
Drawing from his background as an emerging-market bond manager, McClurg noted that global remittance inefficiencies were among the earliest indicators that drew him toward crypto. He highlighted that workers sending money home often face fees between 8% and 15%. Meanwhile, blockchain-based rails like the XRPL can drastically reduce this cost.
I liked the ETF session at Ripple Swell.
"Way to think about XRP is to think about the XRP Ledger. It's financial rails. A competitor to Wall Street" pic.twitter.com/KlAaOQPDpl
— Vet 🏴☠️ (@Vet_X0) November 4, 2025
Why XRP’s Use Case Strengthens the Case for an ETF
McClurg’s comments align with observations he shared in interviews earlier this year, in which he emphasized that XRP’s financial utility gives it an edge over other digital assets. In previous remarks, he argued that:
- XRP is the most popular Wall Street crypto besides Bitcoin.
- Its payment use case uniquely aligns with traditional financial services.
- XRP ETFs could see $10 billion in inflows within their first month, potentially outperforming Ethereum ETFs.
He noted that while Ethereum ETFs suffered due to outflows from Grayscale’s ETHE trust, XRP does not carry the same structural disadvantages. Specifically, XRP doesn’t have native staking, meaning ETF investors aren’t losing out on yield by holding an ETF instead of the asset.
Notably, momentum for an XRP ETF has risen dramatically following the conclusion of the SEC’s case against Ripple. Franklin Templeton has filed an updated S-1 for its XRP ETF, targeting a near-term debut this month.
Franklin joins Canary Capital and Bitwise in updating XRP filings for a mid-November debut. Other managers, like Grayscale, could follow suit.
XRP as a Strong Institutional Product
With financial systems shifting toward on-chain settlement, McClurg believes XRP’s role in powering cross-border payments positions it as one of the strongest institutional products in the digital asset market.
Ripple recently highlighted how XRP and its stablecoin RLUSD are shaping the next generation of global payments. In a recent announcement, it noted how Ripple Prime, GTreasury, and Rail are working together to accelerate institutional adoption through a coordinated XRPL-focused ecosystem.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
