Panos Mekras Outlines XRP's Untapped Potential

While the market’s attention has focused on Ethereum, Solana or rollups, XRP is back in the conversation. Long held back by regulatory turbulences, the asset is catching a new breath, driven by favorable technical dynamics and a growing strength of its infrastructure, the XRP Ledger. Influential voices in the sector now see it as an underestimated catalyst, able to reactivate a growth cycle based on real use cases and a proven architecture.

Structural flaws within the XRP Ledger

In a series of posts published between January 6 and 14, Panos Mekras, co-founder of the company Anodos and long-time actor in the XRP ecosystem, spoke out to deliver an uncompromising analysis on the state of the network, while investors’ patience could soon be rewarded.

“I have never been as optimistic about XRP, and especially the XRP Ledger“, he affirms, while calling for awareness on the structural blockages that hinder adoption. Present in the ecosystem for more than ten years as an investor, advisor, and builder, Mekras argues that the project has gone through several market cycles without its real features being fully highlighted.

He believes that the almost exclusive focus on institutional use through Ripple has overshadowed other native protocol capabilities, especially in decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenization.

In his January 6 analysis, Mekras identifies several structural weaknesses that, according to him, explain why XRP does not attract more liquidity and attention despite its robust architecture :

• Volumes too low on the native XRPL DEX, limiting real economic activity on the network ;

• Insufficient liquidity in AMM (automated market makers) pools, hindering smooth exchanges and efficient price formation ;

• Fragmented development tools, making entry difficult for new developers ;

• Lack of clear incentives for developers and contributors, which slows innovation within the ecosystem ;

• A mistaken perception of the ledger as reserved for institutions, which reduces its attractiveness to the general public.

According to Mekras, these issues result in keeping a large share of XRP liquidity in lethargy, preventing the protocol from fulfilling its economic potential. The XRPL, despite its precedence and stability, would today be overtaken by more agile networks such as Ethereum, Solana, or Cosmos, which have managed to activate their developer communities and multiply concrete use cases.

Towards a revival of utility : technical levers to energize XRP

Beyond the observation, Panos Mekras outlines an ambitious roadmap to awaken the potential of the XRP Ledger.

According to him, several reforms are essential to revive activity on the network. He notably recommends the introduction of sponsored fees, the implementation of batch transactions, increased liquidity incentives, as well as a faster deployment of funds dedicated to developers.

These measures aim to simplify onboarding, strengthen access ramps, and offer a more attractive environment for developers. It is not simply about modernizing the infrastructure: the real goal is to make it a platform capable of hosting mainstream applications where blockchain complexity disappears behind user experience.

In another statement posted on January 14, Mekras also challenges preconceived ideas: “it is 2026, and some still believe that XRP is not intended for individuals or that it was designed only for banks. If you still believe that, you really need to do your own research instead of listening to influencers selling you dreams“.

With these words, he seeks to reposition XRP as a mainstream asset, not as a tool reserved for financial institutions. This strategic clarification could be decisive at a time when experts anticipate a historic bull run during this year and crypto adoption increasingly relies on concrete, accessible, and readable use cases for the average user.