Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley has suggested that Ripple could potentially be called an "XRP treasury company" in 12 months.
Ripple has been viewed as a payments company due to its focus on cross-border transactions, but its identity could potentially change due to the growing corporate trend in crypto.
According to Ripple's last XRP markets report for the first quarter, the company's total holdings currently stand at 4.56 billion XRP.
There are also 37 billion XRP tokens kept in escrow, the most recent data shows.
As reported by U.Today, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse previously claimed that the company's $11 billion valuation was "very outdated," pointing to the company's vast XRP riches that total roughly $100 billion.
Roughly 42% of the cryptocurrency's total supply remains under Ripple's influence.
That said, it is worth noting that Ripple does not technically hold the escrow tokens since they are controlled by automated on-ledger smart contracts that release XRP funds on a monthly basis.
XRP as a treasury reserve asset
There are several public companies currently exploring XRP treasuries. Trident Digital Tech Holdings announced a plan to raise $500 million worth of XRP. Webus International is aiming for $300 million. Meanwhile, VivoPower International and Wellgistics Health secured $121 million and $50 million worth of capital, respectively, in order to build out their XRP treasuries.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team