SoFi faces immediate criticism over XRP withdrawal issues as financial institutions accelerate adoption of the XRP Ledger for tokenization and stablecoin settlement, exposing a growing rift between institutional blockchain infrastructure and retail user experience.

Does the XRP listing give users ownership of the coin?

Many XRP holders on X criticized the SoFi announcement, with users like Dan Thurman saying the platform operates like a spot ETF because users are only getting a derivative of XRP’s value from a risky bank. In other words, users lack access to their tokens if something goes wrong with SoFi, so they must rely on the institution to remain solvent and compliant.

On the other hand, some holders remained excited, saying the listing reflects strong demand for XRP and crypto adoption. Similarly, Ripple responded to the announcement, saying that greater access to XRP would allow more people to participate.

Despite the restrictions on withdrawals, SoFi’s listing is an effort by Ripple to grow mainstream adoption, as the token’s focus on scale and reach ranked it the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap at roughly $100 billion.

SoFi’s position as the first nationally chartered U.S. bank to offer Bitcoin and other crypto trading services directly from FDIC-insured accounts strengthens this initiative. The institution recorded its first billion-dollar revenue quarter in Q4 of last year and, in March, partnered with Mastercard to enable its SoFiUSD stablecoin on the Mastercard network.

However, users who want control feel the listing offers limited utility beyond price exposure, so they remain fixated on the gap between deposit and withdrawal support.

Wall Street giants move closer to XRPL as institutional interest increases

Institutional engagement with XRPL has continued even as XRP’s price performance has lagged behind the growth of the infrastructure. Analysts note that banks and financial institutions are increasingly using XRPL for its low-cost, fast settlement design rather than for XRP speculation itself.

During the Digital Assets Forum 2026 in London, the director of Corporate Adoption at XRPL Commons, Odelia Torteman, confirmed that BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton are interested in the XRP Ledger.

The network could be headed toward a serious institutional evaluation, as three of the biggest Wall Street giants have shown interest. To be specific, BlackRock manages more than $10 trillion in assets, and Franklin Templeton is one of the earliest traditional asset managers to tokenize money market funds on public blockchains.

According to Torteman, companies can use blockchain technology on XRPL without building a separate compliance infrastructure. This is because the network includes a built-in automated market maker (AMM), a native decentralized exchange (DEX), trust lines for compliance, and KYC tools.

To build on her point, the total tokenized value on the network is now roughly $2.5 billion, up from $1.5 billion, after real-world asset (RWA) activity on the XRP Ledger grew by 875% in recent months. Organizations that move large sums across borders enjoy cost savings and speed advantages because the XRPL settles transactions in three to five seconds at a cost of roughly $0.0002 per transaction and up to 1,500 transactions per second.

Moreover, Ripple worked with Franklin Templeton and DBS Bank to launch tokenized lending and trading solutions to improve liquidity and capital efficiency and to build institutional trust. The company also partnered with Securitize to provide around-the-clock liquidity for tokenized Treasury products via smart contracts, enabling investors in BlackRock’s BUIDL fund and VanEck’s VBILL fund to convert their holdings into RLUSD.

On top of that, Mastercard teamed up with Gemini and Ripple in November last year to test RLUSD for settling card payments on the XRP Ledger and prove regulated stablecoins can process payments faster on the blockchain. 

XRP’s role in this ecosystem is to move value across different assets on the network more efficiently, and demand for the token increases as institutional activity on the ledger grows. 

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