For nearly five years, XRP was the crypto token that couldn’t shake its courtroom shadow.
This resulted in its price stagnating, exchanges delisting it, and institutional desks quietly stepping away as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pursued Ripple Labs over allegations of unregistered securities sales.
During that time, other assets sprinted ahead. Bitcoin and Ethereum cemented themselves as blue-chip digital assets. Solana reinvented itself through memecoin mania and on-chain speed.
Meanwhile, XRP, once marketed as the bridge currency for global payments, sat on the sidelines, waiting for regulatory clarity that never came.
That clarity finally arrived in August 2025, when the SEC formally dropped its remaining claims against Ripple, ending one of crypto’s longest-running legal battles.
With the case finally settled, the regulatory cloud that had hung over XRP for years lifted, allowing the token to trade freely in US markets for the first time since 2020 and restoring its place in institutional discussions.
Liquidity returns
Post-settlement, XRP’s market structure has changed dramatically. With compliance risk reduced, liquidity providers have returned to the ecosystem in force.
According to Coinglass data, the asset’s average daily futures volume has surged from under $1 billion to more than $10 billion. Notably, the volume peaked above $74 billion following Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory.
AT the same time, open interest across major derivatives venues has also risen more than 1,000% year on year. Also, XRP’s spot price is up 443%, outpacing Solana and Cardano over the same period.
As a result, the token now ranks among the most actively traded altcoins in the top 10 by market capitalization.
Analysts at Kaiko attributed the renewed momentum to institutional desks rebuilding exposure. In a Q1 report, the firm wrote:
“The average 1% market depth for XRP on Kaiko Indices-vetted exchanges surpassed that of SOL during the first quarter and was around $4 million higher by the end of March.”
The $1 billion treasury bet
That institutional momentum is gaining a new expression through Evernorth, an XRP-focused digital-asset treasury company that announced plans to list on Nasdaq through a SPAC merger.
The transaction is expected to raise over $1 billion in gross proceeds, including a $200 million commitment from SBI Holdings and additional participation from Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR. Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen is also among the investors.
Evernorth’s structure is modeled after a corporate treasury vehicle, designed to purchase XRP directly from open markets, seed liquidity pools, and launch institutional yield programs. Notably, the firm has described its strategy as an “XRP market stabilization and utility initiative.”
If successful, Evernorth’s listing under the ticker XRPN would become the first public vehicle offering regulated exposure to XRP. This would allow a new wave of institutional funds, pensions, and ETFs to buy into Evernorth shares and gain indirect exposure to the high-flying digital asset.
Crypto researcher Ripple Bull Winkle believes this would lead to significant adoption and growth for the digital asset and further boost its price.
According to him:
“When a publicly listed company or a regulated fund accumulates an asset on the open market, every purchase adds real demand. There’s no pre-mine, no discount, no OTC sweetheart deals. It’s market-rate buying pressure that tightens supply.”
The ETF showdown
Parallel to the Evernorth news, XRP’s ETF narrative has intensified with several renowned asset managers filing for approval.
While the ongoing US government shutdown could delay the approval timeline, the amended filings before the shutdown mean the proposals remain active. Still, several industry experts believe the chances of approval for these products remain high.
Should those approvals materialize, several market analysts expect $5–8 billion in inflows within the first year. This would potentially vault XRP ETFs into the top three digital-asset funds by assets under management.
At the same time, the approval would cement XRP as a legitimate asset class for investors seeking exposure to the emerging industry. This would effectively formalize XRP’s transition from a payments token to a recognized institutional asset class, completing the same market-maturity cycle Bitcoin ETFs achieved earlier this year.
Building the institutional bridge
Beyond speculative flows, Ripple has spent roughly $3 billion in acquisitions over the past two years to strengthen its payments and custody infrastructure.
During this period, the company acquired Metaco, Hidden Road, Rail, and GTreasury, signaling an intent to integrate custody, liquidity management, and cross-border payments under one regulated architecture.
At the same time, Ripple has applied for a US national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), while expanding licensing in more than 60 jurisdictions.
Through its Ripple Payments network, the company now connects banks and fintechs across Europe, the Gulf, and Africa. Moreover, it is pursuing partnerships worldwide to cement its role in the mainstream financial ecosystem.
These moves suggest a strategy to expand its trading volume and embed XRP into compliant financial plumbing. The XRP Ledger has already seen its payment transactions grow by more than 430% in under two years and is expected to increase further.
Considering this, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated:
“The past few years have reminded this industry why payments, first and foremost, is THE primary use case for crypto and blockchain. Payments are where Ripple first started for exactly these reasons – the infrastructure is complex, siloed and inefficient, but as we know, perfectly positioned to benefit from decentralized financial technologies.”
