XRP community figure Vincent Van Code says institutional buyers may accumulate XRP off exchanges

Vincent Van Code, a software engineer and well-known member of the XRP community, has addressed longstanding skepticism regarding the asset’s potential for significant future growth. He directly responded to arguments questioning why major investors are not visibly accumulating XRP if a tenfold or hundredfold price increase is possible.

Institutional accumulation off exchanges

Van Code explained that institutional investors have the ability to acquire large amounts of XRP through private transactions, bypassing public cryptocurrency exchanges. These off-market deals, he said, are often invisible to retail participants and do not directly impact exchange trading volumes.

He further suggested that institutional buyers frequently obtain XRP from early holders, some of whom purchased the asset for as little as $0.017. According to Van Code, these long-term investors may be selling significant quantities to institutions seeking a larger allocation without moving the public price.

Addressing the reluctance of prominent investment firms to openly invest in XRP and other digital assets, Van Code noted that internal risk policies remain a significant barrier. Many traditional investment houses still classify cryptocurrencies as speculative and highly volatile, which restricts their involvement regardless of optimistic future outlooks.

Nevertheless, Van Code views the current market environment as a rare window for early adopters. He believes that accumulating XRP for approximately one dollar represents an opportunity to secure exposure at what he considers discounted levels prior to broader institutional adoption.

Van Code emphasized that large investors often use non-public channels to buy XRP, making it difficult for retail traders to detect these moves. He argued that early investors can access opportunities that may not yet be available to mainstream participants.

Mini dictionary: Over-the-counter (OTC) transactions allow investors to trade cryptocurrencies directly with one another, outside of regular exchanges. These deals generally offer higher privacy and can involve much larger volumes compared to traditional exchange trades.

Community comparisons and viewpoints

Supporters within the XRP community have echoed Van Code’s perspective. One user, Parker, drew parallels with Bitcoin’s earlier years, pointing out that very few investors accumulated Bitcoin at the $1 level before its price surged.

Parker rejected the notion that the presence of wealthy or institutional buyers automatically precedes large gains, instead attributing breakthrough investment decisions to personal vision and risk tolerance.

Another member, Motorhead, underscored that large investors typically prefer over-the-counter platforms or private pools to conduct high-volume trades rather than utilizing standard retail exchanges. He stressed that such transactions seldom appear in publicly visible order books, keeping much institutional activity out of the spotlight.

Motorhead highlighted that institutional investors tend to use dark pools and OTC markets for their acquisitions, making it unlikely for their purchasing patterns to be obvious to average traders.

Wee Willy, another participant in the discussion, stated that he intends to continue accumulating XRP even if the asset’s price increases to five dollars. He expressed regret about not being able to invest more and shared a similar optimism toward other cryptocurrencies considered compliant with ISO standards. He argued that today’s retail investors have unprecedented access to opportunities that were once limited to high-net-worth individuals or institutions.

The debate over institutional involvement in XRP exposes the varied strategies and considerations shaping today’s digital asset markets. While some view the current environment as a unique entry point, others point to persisting barriers that keep most major firms on the sidelines.