Skip to content
Swyftx Learn Brand Logo

Inside XRP’s Comeback

6 min
Inside XRP’s Comeback

Key Takeaways

  • The end of the SEC lawsuit in 2025 has restored clarity around XRP, removing its biggest regulatory overhang.

  • Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin supply has grown beyond 700m, with the vast majority deployed on Ethereum.

  • The XRP Ledger is evolving beyond a payments protocol, moving into tokenisation and financial infrastructure – though it currently remains less flexible than smart contract-first chains.

XRP: An OG Cryptocurrency

Launched in 2012 by Ripple Labs, XRP was designed to enable real-time, low-cost cross-border payments, directly addressing the inefficiencies of legacy systems like SWIFT. While many early crypto projects focused on disrupting traditional finance, Ripple aimed to work alongside it, targeting banks, remittance services and payment providers.

This approach faced a critical test in 2020 when the SEC filed a suit against Ripple, alleging that XRP was an unregistered security. The lawsuit cast a long shadow over the project, leading to exchange delistings and uncertainty that slowed institutional adoption.

The tide began to turn in 2025 as the US government adopted a more favourable stance toward digital assets. In March, XRP was added as a US strategic digital asset reserve, a symbolic endorsement that boosted confidence. By August, the lawsuit was officially dismissed and courts confirmed that XRP sales on exchanges did not violate securities law. With the legal threat behind it, XRP has re-entered the spotlight as a global liquidity and payments contender.

RLUSD’s Growing Role in DeFi

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is becoming a central pillar of Ripple’s ecosystem strategy. By August 2025, RLUSD had reached a market cap of around 700 million USD, with about 87 percent of its supply issued on Ethereum. This reflects Ripple’s decision to anchor RLUSD in established DeFi markets, even as it maintains a presence on the XRP Ledger.

RLUSD supply by blockchain shows that most of the stablecoin is on Ethereum. DeFi Llama.

RLUSD is now available on Aave, the leading DeFi borrowing and lending platform. It can be used as collateral to borrow against or supplied to the protocol to earn a yield. This gives RLUSD practical utility in DeFi markets and strengthens its case as a functional, on-chain stablecoin.

Expanding into Tokenisation and Infrastructure

Ripple’s push into tokenisation continues to build. Through the XRP Ledger (XRPL), assets such as real estate and US Treasuries are being tokenised in partnership with entities like Ondo Finance and the Dubai Land Department (DLD).

The collaboration with the DLD, for example, allows fractionalisation of typically expensive properties in Dubai – improving liquidity and opening the doors to otherwise locked-out investors. Additionally, blockchains like the XRPL are being leveraged to fast-track registrations, contracts and other paperwork that can traditionally take months to settle.

The XRP Ledger is built for efficient payments and on-chain asset movement. While it isn’t a general-purpose smart contract platform, Ripple is extending its capabilities through tools like Hooks and EVM sidechains to support tokenisation and more advanced financial use cases.

While much of the tokenisation activity remains in pilot stages, this shift reflects a long-term strategy to embed XRPL more deeply within global financial markets and grow its utility beyond just cross-border payments.

Ripple Sweell Quote

Ripple Swell 2025: New York Bound

Ripple’s flagship event, Swell 2025, will take place in New York City from 4 to 5 November. The invite-only conference is expected to host over 600 attendees from more than 40 countries, featuring speakers from BlackRock, Nasdaq, Citi, Fidelity, CME Group and other major institutions. Ripple’s executive team, including CEO Brad Garlinghouse and executive chairman Chris Lason, will lead discussions on stablecoins, tokenisation, digital asset custody, and cross-border payments.

Swell has historically served as a catalyst for market momentum, with announcements from the event often influencing XRP’s visibility and sentiment. Given Ripple’s active expansion and the legal clarity XRP now enjoys, this year’s Swell is likely to reignite interest from both institutions and retail audiences. Any updates around RLUSD adoption, live tokenisation pilots, or new product integrations could serve as a spark for renewed attention and trading activity.

Ongoing Risks and Challenges

While XRP is enjoying renewed momentum, several structural concerns remain. Ripple continues to control approximately 42 percent of XRP’s total supply, much of it in escrow. This concentration raises questions around centralisation and market influence. Institutional users and governments may hesitate to adopt a token that is so closely tied to a single company.

Another challenge is the rapid rise of competing stablecoins. With regulatory clarity advancing under the US GENIUS Act, stablecoins like USDC and USDT are dominating DeFi and cross-border payments. Most of this activity still happens on Ethereum, TRON and Solana, not XRPL. Unless Ripple can drive RLUSD adoption across both retail and institutional channels, XRP may struggle to stay relevant in a stablecoin-first payments world.

Outlook: Watch This Space

XRP’s narrative has shifted from legal survival to technological expansion. Ripple is no longer just advocating for faster payments, it is building a multi-layered ecosystem across stablecoins, tokenised assets and financial infrastructure. RLUSD is key to that plan, offering compliance-ready stable liquidity for both DeFi and TradFi participants.

Swell 2025 will be a critical moment. Market participants will be looking for signals of scale, such as new partnerships, live tokenisation platforms or ecosystem upgrades. These developments could further solidify Ripple’s role as an infrastructure provider in the evolving digital asset space.

For now, XRP remains a project to watch, technically mature, institutionally connected, and increasingly positioned to influence the future of global finance.

‘Swyftx’ is a brand of Swyftx Pty Ltd (ABN 72 623 556 730, AFSL 568543). Swyftx’s spot cryptocurrency exchange services are not provided under Swyftx’s AFSL and are not issued, arranged, distributed or authorised by Eightcap Pty Ltd (ABN 73 139 495 944, AFSL 391441) (Eightcap), Web3 Loans Pty Ltd (ABN 48 668 516 952) or Web3 Ventures Pty Ltd trading as Block Earner (ABN 63 655 090 869, ACL 551024) (Block Earner). Derivative products are issued by Eightcap and distributed by Swyftx. Credit products are provided by Block Earner. Swyftx is an authorised credit representative of Block Earner (Credit Representative No 579667). 

The information on this website is general in nature and does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether this is suitable for you and your personal circumstances. Any statistics, price references, graphics or information on this page related to the performance of any asset, market or trading account are not indicative of current performance and should not be relied upon when making a decision to invest. This website is not targeted at the public, nor residents, of any specific country and is not intended for distribution to residents in any jurisdiction where that distribution would be unlawful. Digital assets are volatile and carry high levels of risk, you may lose some or all of your investment. Derivative products are highly speculative and carry significant risk. Credit products are subject to lending criteria. Before making any decision about whether to acquire a product, you should read the applicable Terms of Service and, where relevant, the PDS, FSG, Credit Guide and TMD available on Swyftx’s website, as well as the respective product issuer’s website (if applicable).