The data looks impressive, but it's important to understand the story behind it. The XRP spot ETF saw a net inflow of $15.55 million in a single day, pushing its total net asset value to $1.27 billion, which has certainly attracted a lot of attention. Many people's first reaction is "Big institutions are here, it's stable," but the reality might not be that simple.

Let's look at the most critical number: XRP's net asset ratio is only 0.98%. What does this mean? In an ETF worth 100 yuan, the actual XRP holdings might be less than 1 yuan, with the remaining 99% in cash, bonds, and various derivatives. In other words, this is more like a game of using XRP as a shell to facilitate dollar liquidity.

Even more interesting is that Bitwise and Franklin's ETFs are indeed attracting a lot of funds, but these funds are deposited into custodial accounts and haven't entered the blockchain. In other words, the money has gone into the ETF accounts, but on-chain XRP transfer volumes haven't increased correspondingly. What does this indicate? The institutions are "buying" on paper, but the actual purchase of XRP for holding might be limited.

Now, let's look at XRP's price performance. With such a large ETF inflow, the price should theoretically be pushed up, but reality often proves otherwise. The underlying logic is not hard to understand: institutions absorb retail funds through ETFs, collecting management fees and expanding product scale, but retail investors bear most of the market risk and price volatility.

This kind of situation is common in traditional finance and is also prevalent in the crypto market. ETF inflows do not necessarily mean the coin's price will rise; they are more about expanding asset management scale rather than market recognition of XRP's true value. Sometimes, what you see as "prosperity" is just numbers dancing on paper.

For participants, a few points to remember: First, don't be fooled by the ETF's net asset size; a ratio of 0.98% is enough to tell the story—what truly drives the price up is always market sentiment and on-chain demand, not the numbers in ETF accounts. Second, focus on on-chain data, as those are more reflective of the market's true state. Third, when big funds want to manipulate the market, they usually won't do it so ostentatiously; the market's excitement often runs counter to that.

The market is putting on a show, with the stage bustling in front and the accounts being settled behind the scenes. Most people think they are just spectators, but in reality, they are already part of the story. Stay alert, ask more "why," and be more rational than blindly following the trend.