Why Buy the Wrapper When You Can Own the Treasury? Ex-Ripple Insider Makes the Case for XRP DATs Over ETFs

XRP digital asset treasury (DAT) and ETFs offer two paths for institutional and retail investors seeking regulated exposure to XRP. Spot XRP ETFs have pulled in massive investments from traditional finance, with Goldman Sachs leading institutional holdings. It's the classic crypto tale: Wall Street wants in, but only if someone else does the heavy lifting first.

Sagar Shah, Evernorth's BDO and ex-Ripple, argues DATs provide more utility than their ETF cousins. "There's been over a billion dollars in net inflows into XRP ETFs. It tells you that institutions want exposure, but ETFs are a passive wrapper." Shah, apparently, thinks owning the actual treasure chest beats holding a receipt for someone else's treasure chest. Revolutionary take for someone who used to work there.

Spot XRP ETFs simply buy XRP and hold it for investors. Currently, ETFs have recorded $1.21 billion in net inflows. The asset under management sits at almost $950 million—just 1.15% of the total market cap. For those scoring at home, that's roughly $1.2 billion buying a wrapper around an asset that represents less than 1.2% of the total XRP supply. Passive income for institutions, passive everything else.

A DAT, by contrast, is designed to actively participate in the ecosystem. XRP treasury can deploy assets on-chain, generate yields, and encourage more adoption—all with public company transparency. "You don't get that from an ETF. There has been a valuable on-ramp to the XRP ecosystem for institutions and for building greater awareness," Shah said. Translation: DATs actually do stuff with your money, while ETFs just HODL and collect management fees. Bold strategy, cotton.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently confirmed growing institutional interest in XRP, noting some of the biggest companies globally are asking about stablecoins and digital assets. Big companies sniffing around crypto? Shocking. Next you'll tell me institutions are curious about Bitcoin too.

Evernorth Moves Toward Largest Public XRP Treasury

Ripple-backed Evernorth is advancing toward a merger to become the largest public XRP treasury. The company has raised over $1 billion in gross proceeds ahead of the proposed merger with Armada Acquisition Corp II and list under "XRPN" ticker on Nasdaq.