Ripple has started 2025 off strongly. This quarter is significant for the dynamics of the larger Ripple, XRP, and cryptocurrency markets. The Q1 2025 report highlighted XRP’s impressive growth, showing an increase of nearly 50% and attracting notable interest from institutional investors.
In Q1, the most awaited legal case between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached an agreement to end the legal dispute in April 2025. The case began in December 2020. SEC dropped the case because it can’t enforce unclear laws. The agreement is widely seen as a milestone for both Ripple and the digital asset industry, bringing about more clarity and possibly establishing a standard for upcoming crypto-related regulations in the USA.
The second major event in Q1 for Ripple was the acquisition of Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. It was a strategic move aiming at expanding institutional access to the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ripple’s recently launched stablecoin ( RLUSD). With this acquisition, Ripple will be able to further integrate XRP into the international financial systems and improve infrastructure and liquidity services for enterprise-grade clients.
Not only that, Ripple has witnessed growing interest from financial institutions in XRP-based investment products like Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and other financial products driven by XRP’s utility in fast, low-cost cross-border payments.
The tweet also highlights the U.S. regulatory shift towards clearer crypto policies, influenced by the SEC lawsuit resolution trends. Ripple believes that this clarity can create more opportunities for Ripple and the crypto industry.
As per the reports shared by Ripple, the average daily volume (ADV) in Q1’25 is at $3.2B on top-tier exchanges. XRP surged to nearly $3.40 in early Q1, reaching highs not witnessed since January 2018.
XRP spot trading volumes spiked above $16B in late January and early February before steadily declining through March and April. Binance led trading activity, with volume surges across several exchanges during the peak periods.
XRP spot trading volume was stably distributed in Q1, with Binance leading at ~40%, while Bybit’s share dropped notably after a February hack. Fiat pair trading of XRP with USD and USD stablecoins rose from 25% in Q4 2024 to 29% in Q1 2025. Despite this increase, most XRP trading still occurs against USDT.
XRPL on-chain activity normalized in Q1 with a 30-40% drop in wallet creation and transaction volume. DeFi showed resilience, with DEX volume down only 16%, supported by RLUSD’s growth to a 90M Market cap and $300M in DEX volume.
While sharing the turning point of Q1, Ripple has also declared that at the beginning of Q2 2025, it will evolve their way of sharing market updates.
Also read: Ripple CTO Explains Why SEC Ended XRP Lawsuit After 4 Years
