Could Ripple Become an XRP Treasury Company in 12 Months? Bitwise CEO Ponders

Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, has joined the discussion about Ripple pivoting into an XRP treasury company. In a tweet today, Horsley sparked a conversation about Ripple potentially becoming an XRP treasury company over the next 12 months. Specifically, he said he wonders whether people will refer to Ripple as an XRP treasury firm by next year. Bitwise CEO on Ripple XRP Treasury Talks Horsley’s tweet comes at a time when discussions around XRP's role on corporate balance sheets are heating up. Notably, institutions such as Webus and Trident Digital are raising nearly $1 billion for various XRP-based treasuries. This supports the idea that XRP is evolving beyond just a payment bridge. Now, Horsley’s question hints at the possibility that Ripple, currently focused on payments infrastructure, could evolve into a full-fledged XRP reserve-driven entity, much like how MicroStrategy has positioned itself with Bitcoin. Indeed, this speculation also reflects growing awareness of Ripple's vast XRP holdings and how they could be leveraged in future treasury strategies. Ripple Holds 40% of XRP Supply, But Is That a Reserve Strategy? Notably, Ripple controls approximately 41% of the total XRP supply, which is about 40.92 billion XRP, worth an estimated $94 billion. However, much of these holdings are in escrow. While the company maintains these holdings for liquidity management, both critics and supporters are beginning to reframe them as a form of undeclared reserve strategy. Some XRP advocates, such as Edoardo Farina, speculate that Ripple’s escrowed XRP may already be earmarked for institutions like the IMF. While this theory is popular in XRP circles, it remains unconfirmed. Meanwhile, critics like Gary Cardone question why Ripple hasn’t officially declared itself an XRP treasury company, especially if it truly believes in XRP’s potential to skyrocket in value. X user Ojo Oluwani humorously remarked that Ripple becoming an XRP treasury firm would be the "ultimate plot twist," after years of emphasizing that XRP is separate from Ripple. He added that, given Ripple’s holdings, it is effectively a treasury company already, just without admitting it. https://twitter.com/OjoOluwani18095/status/1943112308894404701 But Ripple Already Holds Too Much XRP The real question now is whether Ripple will eventually shift from simply holding XRP to actively structuring its balance sheet around it as a deliberate treasury policy, similar to MicroStrategy. However, XRP supporters see irony in these suggestions. They note that critics often complain that Ripple holds too much XRP, yet simultaneously suggest the company adopt a strategy of continuously buying more.