Preface

After years of lawsuits and market uncertainty, XRP (Ripple) in 2025 is gradually returning to the spotlight in the crypto world. This is not only due to critical progress in its legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but also Ripple Labs’ technological expansion in cross-border payments and aggressive deployments in Asian and Middle Eastern markets, once again drawing the attention of the Web3 community.

Progress in SEC Lawsuit

The prolonged legal battle between Ripple and the SEC reached a turning point in mid-2023 when a U.S. court ruled that XRP does not constitute a security, significantly boosting market confidence. Although the SEC later filed further charges against Ripple Labs regarding its sales model and some fines and penalties remain unresolved, the lawsuit no longer poses major pressure on XRP’s price.

In Q1 2025, the Ripple team publicly stated: “Our legal dispute with the SEC is nearing its end, and our focus will now fully shift to business expansion and building a global payment network.” This statement directly boosted investor confidence in the XRP ecosystem.

Ripple Reaches Preliminary Settlement with SEC

On March 26, 2025, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty further announced that Ripple Labs had reached a preliminary settlement with the SEC. The agreement is expected to result in the withdrawal of both parties’ appeals and the SEC returning $75 million of the $125 million fine Ripple paid last year, retaining only $50 million to conclude the matter.

Cross-Border Payments Accelerate Again

Ripple’s core On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) mechanism, which uses XRP as a bridge asset to facilitate real-time cross-border transfers, gained more favor from financial institutions in 2025, especially in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. According to Ripple’s official Q1 2025 report, over 60 banks and payment institutions have adopted RippleNet’s payment solutions, with more than half implementing ODL services. These include the UAE’s NBF Bank, Vietnam’s TPBank, and Mexico’s digital payment platform PayEngine.

In its competition with SWIFT, Ripple has begun emphasizing its transparency and transaction speed advantages. In 2025, Ripple launched RippleNet+, which boasts enhanced API integration and real-time blockchain settlement features.

Ripple Launches XRPL EVM Sidechain

XRP is no longer just a payment token. Ripple recently launched the XRPL’s EVM-compatible sidechain, allowing developers to deploy Ethereum smart contracts on the XRP Ledger with faster settlement speeds and lower transaction costs. Developed and supported by Peersyst, this integration aims to attract DApp developers from Ethereum and Polygon to the XRP ecosystem. This shift not only symbolizes XRP’s move from a single-use protocol to a scalable ecosystem, but also redefines XRP as a multifunctional Layer 1 protocol platform. Currently, several NFT, DeFi, and GameFi projects are being tested on the XRPL EVM Sidechain, including the blockchain game Ripple Raiders and the oracle protocol XOracle.

(Source: Ripple)

Conclusion

For XRP, 2025 is not just the result of legal relief—it’s the culmination of a strategic roadmap, technical evolution, and global expansion. From a protocol once viewed as limited to cross-border payments, XRP has now transformed into a Layer 1 protocol with sidechains, an ecosystem, and DeFi components. It is reshaping market perceptions of its old image. Although competition remains fierce—especially with challenges from Stellar, Algorand, and even emerging L3 chains—Ripple’s next step hinges on whether it can make the XRPL EVM a truly appealing developer hub. As it stands, XRP is no longer a passive veteran player, but a revitalized contender poised to reclaim center stage in the Web3 era.