Is XRP Dead in 2025? The Current State of XRP

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Camila Karam
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Editor’s Note: This article is archived and exists for reference and historical context. It may contain outdated information or practices that no longer reflect current editorial standards. Please keep that in mind while reading.

While XRP remains one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, it trades at just over half the price of previous all-time highs. However, the past year has been good for the coin, and it increased by +383.38% in the past 12 months, compared to the broader market.

Recent events have inspired new hope in investors asking is XRP dead, and it seems that there’s still life in this established layer-1 project. Read on to discover our XRP analysis, what the future holds, and whether we consider it a buy, sell, or hold.

Summary: Is XRP Dead?

  • XRP as a project is far from dead. It continues to form partnerships with financial institutions, attract significant trading volumes, and have a loyal community of holders.
  • From an investment perspective, XRP is trading at 55.61% of its 2018 peak. It’s also produced growth of +383.38% in the past year.
  • XRP started moving towards new heights during the 2024 bull cycle – but whether it will reach the maximum XRP price of $3.84 again remains to be seen.

What Is XRP?


XRP is a cryptocurrency that backs the Ripple network. Launched in 2012, Ripple facilitates cross-border transactions for financial institutions. XRP is required when financial institutions engage in cross-currency transactions.

For instance, suppose a bank in Vietnam (VND) wants to transfer funds to the UK (GBP). XRP provides a liquidity bridge for that transaction. This means the Vietnam bank doesn’t need correspondent banking partnerships, which are expensive, slow, and fraught with red tape. Ripple and XRP are saving financial institutions precious money and time and revolutionizing a multi-trillion-dollar industry.

Transitioning from SWIFT to Ripple provides many benefits, including average transaction speeds of 3-5 seconds and rock-bottom fees; XRP transfers cost an average of $0.0002, regardless of the transaction size.

Here’s an example of how it works:

  • A bank in Thailand wants to transfer $1 million worth of Thai baht (THB).
  • The receiving bank is based in Canada, which only holds Canadian dollars (CAD).
  • The Thailand bank uses THB to purchase $1 million worth of XRP.
  • The XRP is almost instantly sold for CAD and transferred to the Canada bank.

The above transaction is fast and cost-effective. Additionally, anyone can buy XRP from public exchanges and hold the coins as an investment vehicle.

What is XRP?

The Current State of XRP


XRP is an active blockchain project with over 100 partnered institutions. Notable clients include the Bank of America, Siam Commercial Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Santander, and Standard Chartered. These institutions hold XRP when cross-currency liquidity is needed. XRP’s long-term vision is to become the de facto network for inter-bank transactions.

However, SWIFT – the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication – still dominates this industry by providing a standardized and secure messaging system to facilitate financial transactions between banks and other financial institutions. Moreover, although XRP is used for liquidity provision, its strong use case has little impact on its value. After all, banks only need to hold XRP for several seconds, before it’s sold for the receiving currency.

In terms of regulatory developments, Ripple’s prolonged court battle with the SEC was partially resolved in 2023. The SEC had alleged that XRP is a security asset, and sold to retail clients without regulatory approval. The courts partly ruled in Ripple’s favor, encouraging many US-based exchanges to list XRP. The case is still ongoing, with the SEC arguing that XRP was sold to institutional clients as an unregistered security, violating federal securities laws.

XRP’s Price Performance in 2025


Investors should analyze recent XRP price performance when exploring the question – is XRP dead? In simple terms, XRP has overperformed the wider market. This includes some of the best meme coins, with Dogecoin and Shiba Inu increasing by +232.89% and +80.11% respectively in the past year. While many other coins had an average price increase of over 100% in the same time frame, XRP has increased by +383.38% in the same time frame.

Year-to-date (YTD) performance gave XRP holders even more reasons to celebrate. XRP was priced at $0.57 on January 1st, 2024. Today, the XRP price sits at $2.43. This means XRP has increased by +383.38% over the past year. It even compares well to Bitcoin – which is up +128.66% YTD.

While this clearly seems to indicate that XRP is very much alive, and current prices could still represent a smart entry point since they’re substantially lower than the all-time high of $3.84. Positive sentiment returned to the cryptocurrency markets in the run-up and aftermath of the 2024 US Presidential elections, and the tide is still rising.

The Bullish Case for XRP: Why It Still Has Life


Still asking the question – Is XRP dead? This section explores the bullish thesis for the XRP price. Read on to learn why XRP remains popular with many long-term holders, even in bearish trends and times of strong price volatility.

SEC Lawsuit Resolution

The SEC sued Ripple in 2020, accusing it of selling more than $1.3 billion worth of XRP via an unregistered securities offering. The courts partially ruled in Ripple’s favor, confirming that XRP wasn’t sold to retail clients as a security. This was a landmark moment for Ripple and the broader cryptocurrency industry. The ruling saw the XRP price increase by over 75% in just one day, and XRP was listed by several tier-one exchanges after the announcement, including Coinbase and Gemini.

Ripple had a major legal victory in July 2024 when a federal judge ruled that the sale of XRP on public exchanges did not violate securities laws. However, the court also ruled that Ripple had violated securities law in its sales to institutional investors, like hedge funds, a decision that continued to leave the door open for future legal challenges.

As of the end of 2024, the Ripple-SEC saga remained unresolved. Ripple continues to make legal headway, securing smaller victories and defending itself against the SEC’s massive fines, but the battle is set to continue into 2025. Can Ripple can finally put the legal drama behind it, or will the SEC manage to set a precedent for crypto regulation moving forward? The world will be watching.

Potential as World Bridge Currency

Some analysts claim that XRP could become the world’s bridge currency. It provides liquidity for cross-currency transactions that would otherwise require correspondent banks.

How does XRP work?

According to Ripple, its average transaction cost is just $0.0002. What’s more, most transactions are settled within 3-5 seconds. If Ripple establishes institutional partnerships that involve the usage of XRP, we could witness another strong XRP price rally ahead. However, SWIFT still dominates in this space and institutional adoption hasn’t been as fast as would be ideal.

Discounted Entry Point

We mentioned earlier that XRP’s all-time maximum price is $3.84. However, today, XRP trades for $2.43. The current price represents a 55% discount from the 2018 all-time high.

Therefore, now could be a great time to buy XRP at an attractive entry point. Even without any technological or regulatory developments, an increase in broader cryptocurrency sentiment could encourage a positive XRP price spike.

What is the XRP supply?

  • The maximum XRP supply is 100 billion.
  • Currently, approximately 57.41 billion XRP is in the circulating supply.
  • This means more than 42.59 billion XRP is currently held by Ripple, and will eventually enter the market.

The Bearish Argument: Why XRP Is Dead


This section explores the bearish thesis regarding the XRP price and its prospects as a project. It will help you answer the question, “Is Ripple dead?”

Continued Regulatory Pressure

We’ve established that Ripple’s court battle with the SEC is still ongoing. The focus is now on unregistered institutional sales. A negative outcome could have a major impact on the XRP price.

In addition, an SEC victory could encourage US-based exchanges to de-list XRP. This would amplify XRP’s downfall – both in terms of its future price and future partnership prospects. Investors should build these risks into the investment thesis.

Decreased Market Cap

The biggest concern for XRP investors is its continued price decline. Especially when compared to its all-time high of $3.84, which was reached in early 2018. Although many large-cap projects witnessed significant losses after the 2017 bull market, many have since recorded new all-time highs. This has prompted analysts and forecasters to tone down their XRP price prediction a degree or two.

For example, Bitcoin peaked at $20,000 in late 2017. It hit lows of about $3,300 in 2019. Fast forward to 2024 and Bitcoin surpassed $109,079.00. Some of the best altcoins on the crypto market saw similar price cycles, including Ethereum and Litecoin. However, XRP peaked at $2.71 during the 2024 bull run – almost 30% below its all-time maximum price.

More Advanced Competition

Ripple has a proof of concept; its payment network is being used or tested by over 100 financial institutions. Multiple case studies show that Ripple saves money, improves efficiency, and reduces transaction times – all by considerable amounts.

However, Ripple isn’t the only blockchain network that can facilitate fast and low-cost payments. In reality, the sending bank buys XRP with their preferred currency. That XRP is sold for the receiving bank’s preferred currency and transferred accordingly. As such, Ripple’s liquidity bridge system could be replicated by other projects.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) networks could also compete with Ripple – especially from a consumer perspective. DeFi enables users to transact on a peer-to-peer basis. Meaning – they don’t need to use traditional financial institutions when sending and receiving funds.

Conclusion – Is XRP Dead in 2025?


Overall, XRP is a quality blockchain project with a solid use case. Its underlying network, Ripple, serves banks and financial institutions, enabling them to transfer funds across borders in seconds with considerably low fees.

XRP provides cross-currency transactions with almost instant liquidity, so those using the Ripple network have a reason to hold it. While its all-time high of $3.84 was reached in early 2018 and hasn’t been surpassed yet, XRP’s performance in 2024, coupled with favorable regulatory developments and ongoing adoption efforts, presents a compelling case for potential investment. It has overperformed most cryptocurrencies in recent times, too, disproving many analysts’ claims that XRP is dead.

So, is XRP a good investment? In our view, if you are comfortable with volatility and the potential for long-term gains, XRP could be a worthwhile addition to a diversified portfolio. However, it also carries significant risks typical of the crypto market. Ultimately, investors should conduct their own research to make an informed decision.

FAQs


Is XRP ever going to recover?

Does XRP have a future?

Will XRP lose its lawsuit against the SEC?

Is XRP worth holding?

References

  1. XRP Price Data (CoinMarketCap)
  2. XRP Ledger: Built for Business (Ripple)
  3. Ripple Labs notches landmark win in SEC case over XRP cryptocurrency (Reuters)
  4. XRP soars 75% after judge rules for Ripple, Coinbase shares up 24% (Fortune)
  5. Ripple helps Siam Commercial Bank drive innovation with instant cross-border remittances (Ripple)
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