Original author: Dingdang
Reprinted: Daisy, Mars Finance
A week ago, Ripple (XRP)'s market capitalization surpassed $203.9 billion, ranking 91st globally, surpassing Pepsi, Uber, and BlackRock, with the gap to McDonald's narrowing to 5%. Notably, since Trump’s re-election in 2024, XRP has accumulated a rise of over 585%, with a staggering 71.6% increase in July alone. Although its market capitalization recently fell back to $178 billion due to a market correction, XRP still shows strength in today's rebound.
Observing the trends over the past year, it is evident that in the new cycle led by institutions, XRP has demonstrated significant resilience—each time after a sharp decline, funds are the first to support it. This phenomenon of 'active market protection' may stem from substantial changes in Ripple's fundamentals. Odaily Planet Daily will deeply analyze its recent core changes in the following text.
Regulatory breakthrough: six years of legal shackles finally lifted.
For Ripple, 2025 is a turning point to completely bid farewell to the 'legal tug-of-war'. Since 2019, the long-standing lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been a heavy shackle on the development path of XRP. Until 2023, Judge Torres's ruling provided the first respite: XRP trading in the public market does not constitute a sale of securities, although the institutional sale portion still touches the red line of securities law.
By 2025, Ripple actively withdrew its cross-appeal against the SEC, choosing to pay a $125 million fine to conclude the matter in a 'settlement' form. The six-year compliance dispute officially lands, not only relieving Ripple of its burdens but also opening doors for the future of XRP.
ETF Store President Nate Geraci bluntly stated that the end of the lawsuit cleared the obstacles for spot XRP ETFs and could even attract financial giants like BlackRock to enter the market. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart is even more optimistic, predicting a 95% probability of spot ETF approval for XRP in the second half of 2025, tying with Solana and Litecoin as the most likely 'sub-mainstream' assets to be approved. Newly appointed SEC Chairman Paul Atkins also released clear guidelines indicating that the regulatory environment is shifting from 'negative obstruction' to 'structural acceptance'.
The compliance concerns regarding XRP have dissipated, and investors are beginning to envision a larger stage for it in the traditional financial market.
Expansion of financial products: mainstream market status recognized.
The market enthusiasm for XRP is also reflected in the continuous expansion of financial products.
Coinbase Derivatives announced the launch of nano XRP perpetual contracts on August 18, providing a legitimate derivatives channel for the U.S. market; on the NYSE, the ProShares Ultra XRP ETF (ticker: UXRP) has been approved for listing, offering a daily double return leveraged product. Although it is not a spot ETF, it has been seen as one of the signals for XRP's entry into the mainstream financial framework.
Meanwhile, Bitwise converted all 10 of its crypto index funds into ETFs, with XRP ranking in the top five; Truth Social's 'Crypto Blue Chip ETF' also allocated 2% of asset weight to XRP, clarifying its position in the 'crypto blue chip' series.
The realization of these financial products is a recognition of XRP's core indicators such as high market value, high liquidity, and low transfer costs. More importantly, as compliance thresholds are lowered, exchanges and institutions are accelerating the 're-evaluation' of XRP's potential as a financial asset.
The wave of corporate reserves rises, the second growth narrative emerges.
If regulatory breakthroughs have paved the way for XRP, then institutional enthusiasm has given it wings. In 2025, more and more companies will incorporate XRP into their financial reserves or payment systems, becoming one of the core driving forces for XRP's rise in 2025.
Mobility service provider Webus International Limited signed a preferred equity + credit line agreement with Ripple Strategy Holdings for up to $100 million to establish an XRP reserve pool; Thumzup Media Corporation authorized up to $250 million in crypto assets, explicitly including XRP; vertical farming technology company Nature’s Miracle Holding announced the establishment of a $20 million XRP financial plan for operational fund management. Meanwhile, Amber International completed a $25.5 million private placement, with funds used to build a $100 million crypto reserve portfolio centered on XRP, with investors including veteran crypto VC Pantera Capital.
From cross-border payments to corporate settlements, the actual use cases of XRP are rapidly evolving towards 'corporate financial tools'. This emerging 'reserve narrative' is moving away from the previous narrow understanding of 'lawsuits and prices' and reshaping market perceptions.
On-chain transparency, trust rebuilding in progress.
Despite the bright market performance, doubts within the XRP community regarding on-chain transparency cannot be ignored. KOL Andrei Jikh pointed out that although Ripple claims to have collaborated with over 300 banks since 2013, it lacks sufficient on-chain data to support this.
In response, Ripple CTO David Schwartz stated that most institutions adopt XRP based on off-chain solutions, and XRPL itself was not designed as a high-frequency on-chain interaction platform; its value lies in supporting efficient cross-border payment channels. While this explanation addresses the phenomenon of 'on-chain silence', it also exposes the core contradiction faced by Ripple—how to seek a balance between off-chain institutional usage and community demands for on-chain transparency.
On the other hand, after the XRP price fell from its historical high of $3.66, on July 18, co-founder Chris Larsen transferred $26 million worth of XRP to Coinbase, sparking market speculation. Fortunately, it did not trigger significant selling pressure, possibly due to the co-founder's personal asset management needs.
Additionally, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse clarified the matter of Linqto holding 4.7 million shares of Ripple, emphasizing the essential difference between Ripple shares and XRP. He stated that Linqto, as an independent company, acquired shares from existing shareholders, and Ripple has no control over its business actions. This clarification dispelled community misunderstandings about equity transactions and added to Ripple's transparency.
Overall, Ripple is steadily rebuilding transparent trust through public responses, institutional clarifications, and governance disclosures. This will also be another 'infrastructure construction' it must complete to enter the 'institutional subscription phase'.
Conclusion
From the dust settling on the SEC lawsuit to the increased probability of ETF approvals, and the expansion of corporate reserves and financial products, Ripple is gradually completing its leap from a 'regulatory fringe asset' to a 'mainstream financial target'.
In the short term, if the spot ETF successfully lands in the second half of 2025, it will become a key node to leverage the next wave of capital. In the long term, Ripple still needs to continue efforts to improve transparency on the XRPL chain and respond to community expectations and match institutional standards. From cross-border payments to corporate reserves and global financial products, Ripple's starry sea is gradually unfolding.