How XRP Went From SEC Target to Institutional Asset

After the SEC fight, Ripple bounced back with new deals, acquisitions, tokenization efforts, and XRP ETFs.

It has been three years since Judge Analisa Torres delivered her landmark ruling that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP on crypto exchanges did not constitute securities transactions. This decision remains one of the most important legal moments in the history of the industry that had long been vilified by regulators.

Issued on July 13, 2023, the ruling distinguished between XRP sold to institutional investors, which the court found violated securities laws, and tokens sold on public exchanges, which it said did not constitute securities transactions.

The decision triggered an immediate market reaction. The asset, for one, soared more than 70% in a single day as major US exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini quickly relisted it after previously suspending trading following the SEC’s lawsuit.

The token staged a powerful rally in late 2024 and subsequently climbed above $3 in early 2025 before it tapped a new ATH in July that year. Although XRP later gave up part of those gains amid a broader market downturn, it stood above $1 on the ruling’s third anniversary.

Following the Torres ruling, Ripple continued expanding beyond XRP and launched its US dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, in December 2024.

From Partnerships to Acquisitions

Ripple partnered with African payments network Onafriq to facilitate cross-border payments between Africa and the rest of the world, using Ripple Payments months after the ruling. The following year, the company added the Axelar Foundation to its growing roster of strategic partners to support interoperability within XRP Ledger (XRPL).

It partnered with Clear Junction to ramp up euro payment rails for Ripple Payments and improve payout capabilities across Europe as well. Later that year, it collaborated with Archax to bring tokenized RWAs onto the XRPL. Ripple also worked with OpenEden to bring tokenized US Treasury bills to the network.

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In 2025, South Korean institutional custody firm BDACS signed a strategic partnership with the company. An alliance was also made with the tokenization platform Ctrl Alt to support the Dubai Land Department’s (DLD) Real Estate Tokenization Project. Meanwhile, BNY Mellon was appointed the primary custodian for RLUSD reserves.

On the acquisitions front, Ripple first announced the purchase of Standard Custody & Trust Company to strengthen its regulatory compliance. The acquisition officially closed in June 2024.

The next major acquisition came in April 2025 with the $1.25 billion purchase of global prime broker Hidden Road. The transaction expanded the company beyond payments into institutional prime brokerage, clearing, and financing, while positioning RLUSD and the XRP Ledger at the center of Hidden Road’s post-trade infrastructure.

Entering the ETF Era

The Torres ruling also paved the way for XRP’s entry into the US exchange-traded fund market in a major milestone for institutional adoption. While several asset managers, including Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Canary Capital, and 21Shares, filed applications for spot XRP ETFs over the following months as regulatory clarity around the asset improved, the products did not begin launching until late 2025.

Since they went live, these funds have dominated crypto ETF flows and have only recently suffered a setback. So far in July, XRP ETFs have recorded an outflow of $2.50 million after an impressive nine-week green-only streak.