It is one of the oldest questions in crypto: when prices fall and the headlines turn ugly, where does anyone actually make money? For Asheesh Birla, founder of Evernorth and a former senior figure at Ripple, the answer during the current downturn has a simple starting point: XRP.
XRP is the third-biggest digital currency by total market value, and the funds that track it have been outperforming those built around other tokens, including Bitcoin. That, Birla says, gives investors somewhere to sit while the broader market finds its feet.
“XRP ETFs are performing better than the alternative digital assets, including Bitcoin. So I think there is a lot of interest in XRP as a product. It is a very liquid asset.”
Riding Out the Winter
A crypto winter, industry shorthand for a prolonged slump in prices, tends to shake out projects that were built on hype rather than anything solid. Birla’s argument is that XRP weathers these periods better than most because it sits at the centre of a real-money use case: moving value between banks and financial institutions quickly and cheaply.
That underlying demand does not disappear when token prices drop. Banks still need to settle cross-border payments. Transactions still happen. And the fee income that runs through the XRP network does not stop just because retail investors are nervous.
Evernorth, Birla’s firm, focuses exclusively on XRP, a deliberate choice he says makes the business more focused and, critically, keeps liquidity pooled in one place rather than spread thin across dozens of competing networks.
“Digital assets are largely a liquidity business, and pooling that liquidity on fewer chains, not more, is going to make that experience better,” he added.
New Laws Are Changing the Game
Beyond the day-to-day mechanics of the market, Birla points to a shift in Washington as the bigger story. The GENIUS Act, which put rules around dollar-backed digital currencies known as stablecoins, has already passed. The CLARITY Act, which would set out clearer rules for the broader crypto industry, is working its way through Congress.
“We’ve seen again and again, if you have the technology, that’s not enough. What you need is technology, you need regulation, and then you see capital formation.” he said
He says the third piece, serious money coming in from big institutions, is now starting to arrive. Franklin Templeton and BlackRock have both begun moving assets onto blockchains. Birla sees that as the beginning of something much larger.
What About the Price?
Crypto winters are, by definition, uncomfortable. Prices fall. Portfolios shrink. People ask hard questions. When Birla was shown data suggesting that activity across the broader decentralised finance space has barely grown, even as the industry talks up its own progress, he did not dodge it.
“One year is not long-term, that is short-term. When you look at innovation cycles, you’ve got to look at these things in 10 years. Maybe our society needs to change a little bit and think about the bigger picture.”