Key points to remember:
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XRP eliminates pre-financing and speeds up cross-border remittances, making it useful in emerging markets.
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Loyalty and travel programs integrate XRP into everyday life, transforming it from an investment asset into a convenient payment option.
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Institutions like SBI and Santander add credibility by holding XRP reserves and exploring settlement use cases.
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With the resolution of the SEC case and increasing global clarity, XRP now has the legal certainty and network reach to expand its adoption.
XRP (XRP), the native digital asset of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), has often been discussed in terms of speculative gains or losses. But its importance becomes deeper once you consider XRP’s real-world use cases, institutional support, and regulatory clarity.
Here are five factors that explain why XRP is important beyond its market price.
1. Cross-border payments and remittance efficiency
International payments are one of the main value drivers of XRP. It eliminates pre-financing, reduces settlement times and reduces costs by acting as a bridging currency.
Examples:
Compared to SWIFT, which can take days and carry high fees, XRP’s near-instant settlement makes it attractive in emerging markets where remittances are essential.
2. Loyalty and travel program integration
XRP is increasingly being used outside of financial institutions, including in loyalty, travel, and consumer services. This creates daily utility for millions of users.
Examples:
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Webus/Wetour has established a $300 million XRP treasury to support blockchain-powered travel vouchers, loyalty points, and settlement infrastructure. More than 60 million loyal members will be able to use XRP for overseas services such as airport transfers, premium rides and travel experiences.
SBI VC Trade (Japan) allows customers to earn XRP rewards through loyalty campaigns, expanding its use beyond trading.
When loyalty programs adopt XRP, it moves from being an investment asset to one that users engage with in daily life, from redeeming points to paying for travel.
Did you know? XRP TipBot (Netherlands, now discontinued) once allowed users to tip XRP on social platforms, demonstrating the potential for micro-rewarding in loyalty-type ecosystems.
3. Institutional adoption and use of cash
Institutions treating XRP as a serious operational and treasury asset add credibility and demand, signaling growing confidence in its long-term stability.
By using XRP for liquidity management, settlements and cross-border transfers, these actors are validating its utility beyond speculation, strengthening its role as an institutional-grade digital asset.
Examples:
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SBI Holdings not only invests in Ripple but also integrates XRP into its subsidiaries (SBI Remit, SBI VC Trade) and holds large XRP reserves.
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Santander (Spain) tested RippleNet and explored XRP-based settlement for cross-border payments through its One Pay FX platform.
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Bank of America has been reported as a Ripple partner, exploring XRP settlement for cross-border efficiency.
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Travel platform WeBus sets aside a large XRP reserve managed by an institutional fund manager to support loyalty and settlement operations.
When companies integrate XRP into their balance sheets or payment systems, it demonstrates trust and creates real demand beyond traders.
4. Technology Features and Ledger Upgrades
XRPL offers speed, scalability, and innovation that continue to attract use cases ranging from cross-border payments and stablecoin issuance to tokenized assets and even decentralized finance (DeFi) integrations.
Its low fees and eco-friendly consensus model make it one of the most practical blockchains for real-world adoption.
Examples:
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Transaction speed: Installs in three to five seconds, compared to 10 minutes for Bitcoin or two to five days for SWIFT. This underpins the remittance and microtransaction use cases.
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Low cost: Fees average a fraction of a cent, which is ideal for loyalty programs, micropayments, and small rewards.
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Amendment XLS-20: Introduction of native non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on XRPL, allowing loyalty points, tickets and collectibles to be tokenized directly on-chain.
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XLS-70 / XLS-80 proposals: Improve digital credentials and authorized domain controls, essential for regulated financial and business use.
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Sologene: (Built on XRPL) tokenizes stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), showing how XRPL technology supports financial assets beyond payments.
XRPL’s focus on real-world scalability is why companies view it as infrastructure, not just a speculative chain.
Did you know? The XRP Ledger does not rely on mining like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Instead, it uses a unique consensus mechanism validated by a global network of more than 150 independent validators, including universities, financial institutions and community-run nodes, to confirm transactions in just three to five seconds.
5. Regulatory clarity and network effects
The long-term value of XRP is tied not only to the technology and its adoption, but also to how regulators treat it and how large networks integrate it. By 2025, the regulatory and market environment will have changed significantly, giving XRP greater clarity and momentum.
A clear legal status
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In July 2023, US District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP was not a security when sold on an exchange, although direct institutional sales may be subject to securities law.
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In August 2025, Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission officially ended their five-year legal battle. The SEC dropped its appeals and Ripple agreed to pay a $125 million civil penalty. This conclusion brings long-awaited finality and regulatory certainty to the U.S. market.
Alignment of regional regulations
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Japan: XRP continues to be one of the few cryptocurrencies with a clear legal status, thanks to proactive rules and advocacy from SBI Holdings.
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UK and EU: Ripple has actively contributed to aligning the use of XRP with the EU Markets in Crypto-Asset (MiCA) framework, ensuring compliance across European markets.
Network growth in figures
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As of 2025, there are over 6.6 million active XRP wallets worldwide. Blockchain explorers estimate that more than 6 million individual XRPL accounts have been created.
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SBI Group crypto exchanges (SBI VC Trade and BITPoint Japan) have grown rapidly from around 807,000 accounts in March 2024 to around 1.65 million in March 2025.
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SBI Holdings itself holds around 1.6 trillion Japanese yen ($10 billion) in assets linked to XRP and Ripple, a figure higher than its own market capitalization of 1.2 trillion yen.
With the adoption of XRP by banks, exchanges and consumer platforms, network effects are multiplying: more liquidity, more corridors and more opportunities to use XRP in daily life.
Why is this important?
The end of the Ripple v. SEC case in 2025 eliminates one of XRP’s biggest overhangs. Combined with regulatory clarity in Asia and Europe and measurable growth in corporate wallets, accounts and reserves, XRP now has both the legal certainty and network reach to drive adoption well beyond speculation.
The Challenges XRP Still Faces
XRP enters 2025 with growing legal clarity and integrations, but its usage still lags behind stablecoins like USDC (USDC), which move trillions every year.
At the same time, stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are intensifying competition thanks to broad regulatory support and global payment networks. In this context, the future of XRP depends on its ability to expand its adoption beyond infrastructure to tangible, widespread use.
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Adoption vs actual use: Many integrations exist, but user activity remains below potential. Compared to stablecoins, USDC (from Circle) shows huge on-chain volume. For example, in 2025, the annual transaction volume of USDC will reach billions of dollars ($5.9 trillion over a one-year period) in on-chain transfers. This scale suggests that people use stablecoins much more widely (for payments, transfers, etc.) than many non-fiat cryptocurrencies.
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Competition: In 2025, stablecoins and CBDCs will provide strong competition to XRP: Fireblocks’ payment network, Circle’s Arc network, and Circle + FIS partnerships are driving USDC adoption in over 100 countries, while CBDCs promise a state-backed digital currency with regulatory trust and easy banking integration.
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Rules: Regulation remains a double-edged sword for XRP. Although the US case that ended in 2025 brought legal clarity, some regions still restrict or refuse to recognize XRP as a currency. China bans most uses of crypto, forcing workarounds only overseas, and global stablecoin laws are strengthening, raising compliance standards but also boosting trust in rivals like USDC. This mix of progress and obstacles means that the potential for XRP adoption is still uneven across markets.
Given these challenges, the future of XRP depends on whether its adoption moves from mainstreaming to everyday use and how it faces competition from stablecoins and CBDCs.
With legal clarity now assured and global partnerships expanding, XRP finds itself at a crossroads: poised to bridge traditional finance and digital assets, but challenged to prove it can thrive in a rapidly evolving payments landscape.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research before making a decision.
