The panel of XRP-focused commentators is leaning heavily on Davos optics, providing evidence that BlackRock and Ripple are moving closer to a shared vision of tokenized finance, even though neither participant provided direct confirmation of a formal partnership between the two companies.

BlackRock, Ripple and XRP after Davos

Host Versan Aljarrah opened by pointing out “BlackRock and Brad Garlinghouse in Davos” and asking guest Jake Claver what he learned from their presence and “the lessons they learned there.” Claver’s response focused on what he said he heard from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink about billing consolidation.

“He mentioned that it would be ideal if everything was on one blockchain or at least went back to one blockchain,” Claver said. “The fact that Ripple is in this room and has been at this point for years gives me great confidence that it is XRPL […] I feel like BlackRock and Ripple are much more committed to each other than people realize.”

Today we joined @beyond_broke to discuss BlackRock’s silent ties to Ripple, XRP supple disclosures, and the future of digitization and tokenization.

I’m excited to have everyone back together for this one.https://t.co/oMHGWqMehB pic.twitter.com/u1s7LyOAhs

— Black Swan Capitalist (@VersanAljarrah) January 26, 2026

Aljarrah immediately expanded his claim beyond the Davos stage play, stating, “at this point it’s pretty obvious that Blackrock, JP Morgan, Ripple and all of these major banks have some connection to Ripple [and] XRP,” before returning to a recurring topic that Davos’s access to is itself a filter. He later argued that the pool of cryptocurrency executives allowed to work near institutions like WEF and BIS was narrowing and that Garlinghouse’s inclusion had more significance than “mainstream noise.”

David (Digital Outlook) pushed the discussion toward implementation, but repeatedly brought BlackRock back into the framework as a connecting thread in Ripple’s institutional strategy. “When it turned out to be liked, OK, has Ripple really positioned itself like this […] major leader in space […] with the acquisitions they made […] care in Palisade,” he said. “I think they have Metaco and Standard Custody there […] crossing the Hidden Path and so on. Then […] you see all the other connections between their partners, like what they do with Blackrock. You know, they have something to do there.

The second line of argument was that BlackRock’s possible entry into the market could trigger an XRP liquidity event. Edo Farina put it in terms of “order size”: “It requires one huge large-scale institutional order from Blackrock and that’s it,” he said, arguing that market prices could remain subdued if institutional positioning occurs through OTC arrangements.

Claver added: “When Blackrock steps in, there will likely be a supply shock that will allow XRP to decouple from the rest of the cryptocurrency market and Bitcoin,” and linked that idea to a viral episode that, according to the panel, briefly caused XRP to become out of sync with the rest of cryptocurrencies. “We saw it separated once […] When […] the [fake] trust filed in Delaware for the benefit of Blackrock’s iShares XRP ETF […] go on Twitter,” Claver said.

Still, BlackRock’s noticeable crypto footprint remains leans towards Ethereum and Bitcoin instead of XRP. BlackRock’s flagship U.S. spot exposure is through its bitcoin and ether tracking products IBIT and ETHA, while its tokenization beachhead was also a first in the Ethereum market: BlackRock’s BUIDL fund debuted on Ethereum via Securitize in March 2024, and only later expanded to additional networks.

Additionally, BlackRock’s own 2026 Thematic Outlook clearly identifies Ethereum as an infrastructure layer that “collects fees” as tokenization scales, with stablecoins treated as an early proxy for tokenization “in action.” BlackRock highlights data showing that “over 65%” of tokenized assets are on Ethereum, which makes an argument for why “one blockchain” speculation in institutional circles often defaults to ETH.

At press time, the price of XRP was $1.88.

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com