Will Apple break the traditional hoarding of Ripple? The $1.5 billion XRP reserve rumor has sparked heated discussions.

On September 9, a rumor from a crypto assets influencer that “Apple will make a large-scale acquisition of Ripple (XRP)” sparked discussions on X (formerly Twitter), even mentioning a $1.5 billion acquisition plan. However, Apple has never publicly disclosed holding any crypto assets, leading to a mix of skepticism in the market and heated discussions within the community.

Source of Rumors and Market Reaction

User @Cobb_XRPL (with about 45,000 followers) claims that Apple will announce an acquisition of XRP, potentially amounting to one to two billion dollars. Considering that Apple holds $55.4 billion in cash as of June 2025, this amount would have a negligible impact on its finances.

However, the claim was soon labeled by the crypto media as “baseless,” and even the original author of the tweet later denied the rumors, stating it was like a “ghost message.” Currently, neither Apple nor Ripple has commented on the matter.

Apple's Crypto Assets Policy History

Apple has always been cautious in the crypto space:

Before 2023: The App Store prohibits in-app purchases of encryption coins.

July 2023: Lifting the ban to allow direct processing of payments for BTC, NFTs, and more within the app.

May 2025: After the court ruling, applications are allowed to include external links to purchase Crypto Assets.

Despite the loosening of policies, Apple still prohibits functions such as ICOs, token airdrops, and mining, and has never mentioned the purchase of any Crypto Assets in its financial reports or public documents.

Comparison of Encryption Reserves with Other Companies

In the corporate finance sector, Bitcoin and Ethereum are the overwhelming mainstream:

Strategy, giants like Tesla hold a large amount of BTC

BitMine Immersion and other companies hold billions of dollars in ETH.

In contrast, the market capitalization of XRP is about 36 billion USD, and there are very few companies publicly holding XRP, with limited scale. Even though seven listed companies have announced XRP funding plans, the total amount is only close to 1 billion USD, far lower than the corporate reserves of BTC and ETH.

XRP Market Status and Limitations

Although XRP has unique applications in the cross-border payment field, its liquidity and institutional adoption are still not on par with BTC and ETH. Analysts point out that if Apple really wants to establish a crypto reserve, choosing high liquidity assets with global recognition (such as BTC and ETH) is more in line with its low-risk strategy.

Expert Opinion: The Credibility of the Rumor is Extremely Low

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has warned investors, “If something sounds too good to be true, then in the context of crypto scams, it is likely fake.”

It is widely believed in the industry that Apple is not known for allocating high-risk, speculative assets, especially highly volatile encryption assets. Even if it ventures into crypto reserves, XRP is unlikely to become the first choice.

Conclusion

The rumor that “Apple is acquiring XRP for $1.5 billion” has sparked heated discussions in the community, but lacks any substantial evidence. Considering Apple's past conservative strategies and market realities, if a crypto reserve is indeed established in the future, the chances of BTC or ETH being chosen are much higher than that of XRP. Investors should remain cautious about such unverified news to avoid becoming victims of market speculation.