Ripple’s XRPL EVM Sidechain Struggles With Just $100K TVL and Minimal Activity

Ripple’s highly anticipated XRPL EVM sidechain, designed to bring Ethereum smart contract compatibility to the XRP Ledger, has stumbled in its early weeks. As of the latest data from DeFiLlama, the network spans only four chains and hosts a combined total value locked (TVL) of $100,818, spread across three decentralized exchanges and a single launchpad.

Activity levels highlight the challenge. In the past 24 hours, total trading volume reached just $3,238 — all of it coming from Moai Finance. The remaining networks, Riddle, XRiSE33 Network, and SurgeDefi, recorded no trades during the same period. This means that virtually all measurable on-chain movement is concentrated on a single platform.

This performance is far from the ambitious vision presented at the sidechain’s launch on June 30, when it was billed as “a new era of cross-chain DeFi.” Ripple positioned XRPL EVM as a bridge to attract Solidity developers to port and deploy Ethereum-based applications, leveraging XRPL’s liquidity and over a decade of operational reliability. However, developer adoption has been slow — just 168 developers are active on XRPL EVM, compared to Ethereum’s 8,448, reflecting a gap of around 98%.

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is also underwhelming in its market impact. With a market capitalization of $642 million, RLUSD remains well below the $1 billion threshold. Only $65.81 million, or 10.25% of its supply, circulates on the XRP Ledger — representing a minuscule 0.024% share of the $271 billion global stablecoin market. In contrast, Tether (USDT) commands $164 billion and USD Coin (USDC) holds $65 billion.

These modest adoption figures come despite Ripple’s high-profile political and regulatory achievements this year. The company acquired stablecoin platform Rail for $200 million, and CEO Brad Garlinghouse addressed the U.S. Senate Banking Committee to advocate for clearer digital asset regulations. Garlinghouse also participated in private meetings and events with President-elect Donald Trump, including a White House crypto summit. The passage of the GENIUS Act — the first U.S. stablecoin law — and the resolution of Ripple’s SEC lawsuit with a $125 million fine marked major milestones.

Still, these victories have yet to translate into strong adoption for Ripple’s flagship blockchain products. With XRPL EVM’s TVL stagnant at six figures and RLUSD holding a fraction of the market, Ripple faces the challenge of converting political influence into tangible on-chain growth.