Crypto attorney John E. Deaton has just added fuel to the XRP debate by publicly speculating that Uphold, the platform most synonymous with XRP support, could be snapped up by a major player.
He has a long list of potential buyers, including Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, Gemini, Robinhood, Ripple and even some big names from the traditional finance world like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Citi and PayPal.
Uphold is in a rare position. According to the latest transparency data, XRP accounts for an amazing $4.54 billion of the platform's $6.61 billion in total reserves — that is roughly 69% of all assets held. XRP is at the heart of Uphold, not just a little part of it.
The platform has also processed over 26 million XRP transactions, making up 26% of the total volume, and it is still going strong. Just this week, Uphold announced support for USDC via the XRP Ledger.
So, the platform is not just holding the coin; it is XRP-centric. With a reserve ratio of 100.6%, it runs a fully-backed model and already facilitates large-scale XRPL activity without needing to build new rails.
Why not?
But there is one big catch. Simon McLoughlin, the CEO of Uphold, is known to be a big fan of XRP and the XRPFi ecosystem. He is not just a supporter — he is a believer.
That personal conviction may make any acquisition difficult unless buyers are willing to pay well above the market rate. McLoughlin could either hold the line or drive the asking price into the stratosphere.
Deaton's call might be a bit of a stretch, but with all the numbers, positioning and growing institutional interest in XRP infrastructure, it is definitely something to keep an eye on.
Also, do not forget that Ripple already had a history of such acquisitions with a minor stake at Bitstamp, which was later merged with Robinhood.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team