On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) - Part 2: Adoption & Analysis | Ripple Product Suite Overview | XRP Academy - XRP Academy
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intermediate55 min

On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) - Part 2: Adoption & Analysis

Learning Objectives

Quantify ODL's current volume and historical growth trajectory

Analyze corridor-level performance and identify growth drivers

Evaluate ODL's market share relative to opportunity

Assess whether growth rates support the XRP utility thesis

Identify key metrics and signals for monitoring ODL progress

The XRP community often focuses on announcements: "New corridor launched!" "Partner signed!" "ODL expanding!"

But announcements don't drive XRP value—volume does. Every XRP bought and sold for ODL creates utility demand. The question isn't whether ODL exists (it does), or whether it's growing (it is), but whether the growth rate and scale are sufficient to justify XRP's market capitalization.

This lesson focuses entirely on data: What do we actually know about ODL adoption? What do the numbers show? And what do they mean for XRP's utility thesis?


Estimated Annual ODL Volume:

2019: ~$200-500M (early days, primarily MoneyGram)
2020: ~$1-2B (growing, MoneyGram peak)
2021: ~$2-4B (MoneyGram exits, SBI grows)
2022: ~$3-5B (post-MoneyGram stabilization)
2023: ~$5-8B (corridor expansion)
2024: ~$8-12B (estimated, continued growth)
2025: ~$10-15B (projected if trends continue)

Key Observations:

  • Volume has grown every year

  • Compound growth rate: ~30-50% annually

  • Not explosive, but steady

  • 2019-2021: Significant MoneyGram contribution

  • 2021: Partnership ended

  • Volume recovered, showing other growth

  • $10B annually sounds large

  • Cross-border market: ~$150T

  • ODL share: ~0.007%

ODL volume shows patterns:

Q1: Often lower (post-holiday)
Q2-Q3: Growing (business activity)
Q4: Often higher (holiday remittances)

TREND: Each year's Q4 > previous year's Q4
Suggests underlying growth, not just seasonality

Where ODL data comes from:

  • Ripple quarterly XRP Markets Reports

  • Partner company disclosures (SBI, etc.)

  • On-chain analysis (limited visibility)

  • Ripple controls primary data

  • Not independently audited

  • Definition of "ODL volume" can vary

  • Some flows may be double-counted

  • Exact corridor-by-corridor breakdown

  • Customer-level volumes

  • Profitability per corridor

  • Subsidized vs. organic volume split


Estimated corridor contribution:

  • Estimated: 25-35% of total ODL

  • Partners: SBI, Tranglo

  • Maturity: Established, stable

  • Estimated: 15-25% of total ODL

  • Partners: Bitso, various US FIs

  • Maturity: Established, growing

  • Estimated: 10-15% of total ODL

  • Partners: Multiple

  • Maturity: Growing

  • Estimated: 10-15% of total ODL

  • Partners: Tranglo, others

  • Maturity: Growing

  • Estimated: 5-10% of total ODL

  • Partners: Multiple

  • Maturity: Emerging

  • Estimated: <5% each

  • Early stage development

How corridors typically develop:

  • Initial integration

  • Test transactions

  • Compliance setup

  • Volume: Minimal

  • Production launch

  • Volume building

  • Liquidity optimization

  • Volume: Growing

  • Stable operations

  • Self-sustaining liquidity

  • Profitable (hopefully)

  • Volume: Substantial

  • Corridor development takes years

  • Many pilots never reach Stage 3

  • Even mature corridors can regress

What determines corridor success:

SUCCESS FACTORS:
✓ High traditional corridor costs
✓ Strong local exchange partner
✓ Supportive regulatory environment
✓ Sufficient remittance/payment demand
✓ Committed customer with volume

FAILURE FACTORS:
✗ Low traditional costs (no advantage)
✗ Thin XRP liquidity
✗ Regulatory uncertainty
✗ Lack of committed customer
✗ Competition from stablecoins

Market sizing:

TOTAL CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS: ~$150T annually

- Wholesale/treasury: ~$100T (not ODL target)
- B2B trade: ~$25-30T (partially addressable)
- Remittances: ~$800B (primary ODL target)
- Other: Various

- Remittances + small B2B
- ~$2-5T annually
- ODL's real competitive space
ODL MARKET SHARE:

vs. Total Cross-Border ($150T):
$10B / $150T = 0.007%
Interpretation: Negligible

vs. Remittances ($800B):
$10B / $800B = 1.25%
Interpretation: Small but meaningful

vs. Digital Remittances (~$200B):
$10B / $200B = 5%
Interpretation: Notable niche

vs. Corridors Where ODL Operates (~$100B):
$10B / $100B = 10%
Interpretation: Significant in served markets

What growth would look like:

SCENARIO: ODL reaches $100B annually

- From $10B: ~7 years
- Would represent: ~12% of remittances
- Would represent: ~0.07% of total cross-border
- XRP holding requirement: Significant increase

SCENARIO: ODL reaches $1T annually

- From $10B: ~14 years
- Would represent: ~3% of relevant market
- Would require: Major acceleration
- Probability: Low without step-change

---

Estimated customer metrics:

TOTAL ODL CUSTOMERS: ~15-25 (active production)

- Tier 1 (>$500M/year): 2-3 customers
- Tier 2 ($100-500M/year): 5-8 customers
- Tier 3 ($10-100M/year): 10-15 customers
- Below threshold: Various pilots

- Top customer (SBI): ~30-40% of volume
- Top 3 customers: ~60-70% of volume
- Top 10 customers: ~90%+ of volume

Customer acquisition trends:

  • 2022: 3-5 new production customers

  • 2023: 5-8 new production customers

  • 2024: 5-10 new production customers

  • MoneyGram (2021): Major loss

  • Others: Occasional, not publicized

  • Positive but slow

  • Most "partnerships" don't convert to production

  • Conversion rate: ~10-20% of pilots

Customer productivity:

AVERAGE ANNUAL VOLUME PER CUSTOMER:
$10B / 20 customers = $500M average

- Top 3: $1B+ each
- Middle 10: $100-500M each
- Bottom 10: <$100M each

1. New customer acquisition
2. Existing customer volume growth
3. New corridor enablement for existing customers

---

Historical growth:

COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE (CAGR):
2020-2024: ~35-50% annually

- Cross-border payments market growth: ~5-7%
- Digital payments growth: ~15-20%
- Crypto market growth: Highly volatile

INTERPRETATION:
ODL growing faster than traditional market
But from a tiny base
Outperformance required for significance

What's driving ODL growth:

  1. Corridor expansion (new markets)

  2. Customer acquisition (new users)

  3. Volume deepening (existing users growing)

  4. Regulatory clarity (US reopening)

  5. Product improvement (hybrid flows)

  6. Stablecoin competition

  7. SWIFT/GPI improvements

  8. Regulatory uncertainty in some markets

  9. XRP volatility concerns

  10. Integration complexity

Forward-looking scenarios:

  • Stablecoin competition intensifies

  • Key customer reduction

  • New corridors don't develop

  • 2030 volume: ~$30-40B

  • Current trends continue

  • Moderate new customer/corridor growth

  • US market contribution grows

  • 2030 volume: ~$70-100B

  • Major bank adoption

  • Multiple new corridors

  • US market fully reopens

  • 2030 volume: ~$200-300B

  • Bear: 25%

  • Base: 55%

  • Bull: 20%


How ODL creates XRP demand:

  • XRP purchased at origin

  • Held for seconds

  • Sold at destination

  • Not "held" in traditional sense

  • Creates buying pressure

  • Creates selling pressure

  • Net impact: Velocity-driven demand

Rough calculation:

ANNUAL ODL VOLUME: ~$10B
AVERAGE TRANSACTION SIZE: ~$1,000 (remittance-heavy)
TRANSACTIONS PER YEAR: ~10 million
XRP PER TRANSACTION: ~$1,000 worth
DAILY TRANSACTION VOLUME: ~$27M

DAILY XRP DEMAND:
$27M bought / day
$27M sold / day
Net: Flow through, not holding

- Daily XRP trading volume: ~$1-5B
- ODL as % of trading: ~1-3%
- Impact: Measurable but not dominant

Honest assessment of ODL's XRP impact:

  • ODL creates real XRP demand

  • But demand is flow-through, not holding

  • Scale is small vs. speculative trading

  • XRP price driven by speculation (95%+)

  • ODL volume needs to be much larger

  • Or holding time needs to be longer

  • Or XRP needs to be held as reserve

  • At current growth: 7-10+ years

  • Requires: Sustained growth without setbacks

  • Probability: Uncertain


Primary metrics:

  1. QUARTERLY ODL VOLUME

  2. ACTIVE CUSTOMER COUNT

  3. CORRIDOR HEALTH

  4. XRP LIQUIDITY DEPTH

What indicates ODL is succeeding:

POSITIVE SIGNALS:
✓ Volume growth >30% YoY sustained
✓ New Tier 1 customer acquisition
✓ Customer concentration decreasing
✓ New corridors reaching maturity
✓ Spreads tightening (liquidity deepening)
✓ US volume contribution growing

CONCERNING SIGNALS:
✗ Volume growth <20% YoY
✗ Tier 1 customer loss
✗ Concentration increasing
✗ Corridors stalling/regressing
✗ Spreads widening
✗ Stablecoin competition accelerating

Timeline-based evaluation:

  • ODL volume: >$12B annually

  • Active customers: >25

  • US contribution: Growing

  • Assessment: On track if met

  • ODL volume: >$25B annually

  • Active customers: >40

  • Top 3 concentration: <50%

  • Assessment: Significant progress if met

  • ODL volume: >$75B annually

  • Market share of remittances: >5%

  • Utility demand visible in XRP pricing

  • Assessment: Thesis validated if met


ODL volume is growing—from ~$2B (2020) to ~$10B (2024), roughly 35-50% CAGR.

Real customers are using it—SBI, Tranglo, and others are processing real transactions.

Some corridors are mature—Japan-Philippines, US-Mexico have multi-year track records.

Growth is outpacing traditional market—ODL growing faster than cross-border payments overall.

⚠️ Sustainability of growth rates—can 35%+ CAGR continue as base grows?

⚠️ How much is subsidized—organic vs. incentivized volume unclear.

⚠️ US market contribution—will SEC clarity translate to adoption?

⚠️ Competitive response—stablecoin alternatives growing faster.

🔴 Scale remains tiny—$10B is 0.007% of cross-border payments.

🔴 Customer concentration is high—top 3 customers are 60-70% of volume.

🔴 Growth timeline is long—7-10+ years to potential significance.

🔴 Utility thesis gap—speculation still dominates XRP pricing.

ODL is a real product with real growth. Volume has increased roughly 5x from 2020 to 2024. This is genuine progress that shouldn't be dismissed.

However, context matters. $10B annually is 0.007% of cross-border payments. Even 35% annual growth takes a decade to reach significance. The XRP utility thesis requires ODL to grow from $10B to $100B+ to meaningfully affect XRP pricing dynamics—and that journey is measured in years, not months.

For XRP investors, ODL provides real utility underpinning—but utility doesn't yet drive price. Speculation dominates. The transition from speculation-driven to utility-driven pricing is the long-term thesis, and ODL is the vehicle—but we're still in the early chapters of that story.


Assignment: Create an ODL analysis dashboard concept with key metrics and assessment.

Requirements:

Part 1: Current State Summary (1/2 page)

  • Current annual ODL volume (with growth rate)
  • Active customer count
  • Major corridors and contribution
  • Market share (vs. relevant benchmarks)

Part 2: Historical Trend Analysis (1 page)

  • Annual ODL volume (2019-2024)
  • Growth rate by year
  • Customer count trend
  • One corridor deep-dive (your choice)

Include brief interpretation of each trend.

Part 3: Forward Scenarios (1/2 page)

  • Bear case (with assumptions)
  • Base case (with assumptions)
  • Bull case (with assumptions)

Assign probability weights with justification.

Part 4: Monitoring Framework (1 page)

  • 5 primary metrics to track

  • Data sources for each

  • Frequency of review

  • Green/yellow/red thresholds

  • Action triggers

  • 3 pages total

  • Visualizations required (charts, tables)

  • Clear data sources noted

  • Data accuracy and sourcing (25%)

  • Visualization quality (25%)

  • Scenario analysis rigor (25%)

  • Monitoring framework practicality (25%)

Time Investment: 3-4 hours
Value: Creates reusable framework for ongoing ODL evaluation.


Knowledge Check

Question 1 of 1

At the current ~35% annual growth rate, approximately how long would it take for ODL to grow from $10B to $100B annually?

  • Ripple XRP Markets Reports (quarterly)
  • SBI Holdings investor relations
  • Exchange volume data (CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap)
  • Messari XRP research
  • On-chain analytics platforms
  • Cross-border payment industry reports
  • World Bank Remittance Reports
  • McKinsey Global Payments
  • BIS cross-border payment studies

For Next Lesson:
Lesson 9 examines RLUSD—Ripple's stablecoin launched in December 2024. We'll analyze its positioning, competitive dynamics, and implications for XRP.


End of Lesson 8

Total words: ~4,600
Estimated reading time: 25 minutes
Estimated deliverable time: 3-4 hours


Course 52: Ripple Product Suite Overview
Lesson 8 of 18
XRP Academy - The Khan Academy of Digital Finance

Key Takeaways

1

ODL volume has grown from ~$2B (2020) to ~$10B (2024)

—real growth at roughly 35-50% CAGR.

2

Market share is tiny but growing:

0.007% of total cross-border, ~1-2% of remittances, ~10% of corridors where active.

3

Customer concentration is high:

Top 3 customers represent 60-70% of volume; SBI alone is 30-40%.

4

Growth timeline is long:

At current rates, 7-10+ years to reach scale where utility meaningfully affects XRP pricing.

5

Monitor for signals:

Volume growth rate, customer concentration, corridor health, and US market contribution are key metrics. ---