币界网报道：Ripple’s [XRP] Q2 was a poor one. As money flowed into high-beta assets, XRP lagged, falling nearly 30% against Ethereum [ETH] after posting 100%+ gains in Q1. But this turnaround wasn’t accidental, it was driven by strategy. You see, Ethereum developers made a successful comeback in early May with the Pectra upgrade, which helped drive a 40% rally that pulled ETH out of the doldrums it had been in since November. Now, Ripple appears to be drawing on the same blueprint. The only question is, will the market reward XRPL’s roadmap as much as it rewarded Ethereum? Ripple Doubles Down on XRPL’s Future Ripple is taking bold steps to upgrade the XRP Ledger. Earlier this year, Ripple acquired the well-known prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. Prime brokers help large investors by providing services such as trade execution. With this deal, Ripple is giving institutions better tools to trade capital using XRP. But that’s just the beginning. Ripple also plans to launch a new lending protocol in the third quarter of 2025. It’s also adding more programmability, introducing smart contract functionality that will allow developers to build applications much like they do on Ethereum. All in all, the roadmap is clearly aimed at institutional readiness. With ETF speculation heating up, and Ripple officially withdrawing its cross-appeal in the SEC case, the timing between legal clarity and technological expansion couldn’t be better. The early market reaction reflects this shift. At press time, XRP is trading above $2.15, up 5%, while open interest (OI) is up 3%, indicating that speculative liquidity is re-entering the derivatives market. The problem is, though, that none of this will last without real institutional buy-in. XRPL’s roadmap mirrors Ethereum’s post-upgrade strategy. But to produce a similar price re-rating, institutional capital must follow. The technology is in place, but is Wall Street paying attention? The XRP/ETH ratio provides a clear lens into the dynamics of capital rotation. Starting on November 13, the ratio surged 550% in five months, following XRP’s 217% rally from its $0.70 bottom to near $3.40 in mid-January. Notably, the ratio held up despite XRP’s 35% drop from its peak. While Ethereum fell to a multi-year low of $1,440, the ratio remained resilient through much of Q2, suggesting that rotation funds were largely favoring XRP. But by the end of Q2, the tide had turned. The ratio plunged nearly 40% to bottom at $0.0008, marking a sharp divergence. The catalyst? Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade. Deployed in early May, Pectra helped ETH break through its $2,000 cap, triggering a new wave of inflows. Stablecoin velocity surged, and BlackRock began to accumulate, with annualized fees exceeding $7.3 billion. More importantly, with the Glamsterdam upgrade scheduled for late 2026, ETH has regained narrative dominance. Now, Ripple's move to an "Ethereum-style" upgrade looks far more strategic than coincidental. But will the market react in kind? That's the turning point. Without institutional follow-up, the XRP/ETH ratio could fall further.