Recently, I heard that Ripple is planning a major move—building a $1 billion XRP reserve. The official statement is to enhance market stability and influence, but this move might be more complex behind the surface.

Let's first look at the potential ripple effects:

**From the supply side**, a $1 billion reserve is equivalent to locking this portion of assets out of market liquidity. This is not a small number; in the long term, it could change the supply and demand dynamics of XRP and even reinforce deflationary expectations.

**From the perspective of influence**, Ripple effectively equips itself with a regulatory tool. During periods of market volatility, they can proactively manage prices and guide the development pace of the ecosystem, which is a considerable amount of power.

**From a strategic intent**, this clearly signals that XRP is no longer just a payment tool but has been incorporated into Ripple’s long-term ecosystem strategy at its core.

However, this also raises a classic but always worth pondering question: how can project teams’ influence and the decentralization spirit of the crypto world be balanced? Giants building moats through capital reserves to stabilize expectations makes business sense, but it can create tension with the理念. The very existence of this tension warrants ongoing attention from the entire ecosystem.