Important takeouts:
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XRP eliminates advance funding, speeds up cross-border remittances, and is useful in emerging markets.
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The loyalty and travel programs bring XRP into everyday life, turning it from an investment asset to a practical payment option.
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Institutions such as SBI and Santander add credibility by retaining XRP reserves and investigating settlement use cases.
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With the SEC case resolved and global clarity increasing, XRP has now gained legal certainty and network reach to expand adoption.
XRP (XRP), the native digital asset of the XRP ledger (XRPL), is often debated in terms of speculative profit or loss. However, its importance becomes even deeper when considering the actual use cases, institutional support and regulatory clarity of XRP.
Below are five factors that can help explain why XRP is important beyond market prices.
1. Cross-border payments and remittance efficiency
International payments are one of XRP’s most powerful value drivers. Eliminating advance funds and acting as a bridge currency can help reduce payment times and reduce costs.
example:
Compared to Swift, which can take several days and can incur high fees, a nearby XRP settlement makes it attractive in emerging markets where remittances are essential.
2. Integrating loyalty and travel programs
XRP is increasingly used outside of financial institutions, particularly in loyalty, travel and consumer services. This creates everyday utility for millions of users.
example:
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Webus/Wetour has established the $300 million XRP Treasury to support blockchain-powered travel vouchers, loyalty points and payment infrastructure. Over 60 million loyalty members can use XRP for international services such as airport travel, premium rides and travel experiences.
SBI VC Trade (Japan) allows customers to earn XRP rewards through loyalty campaigns and expand their use beyond their trading.
When the loyalty program adopts XRP, it moves from being an investment asset to something that users are involved in daily life, and from redemption points to travel payments.
Did you know? The XRP Tipbot (Netherlands, now discontinued) allows users to tip XRP on social platforms, indicating the potential for loyalty-style ecosystem microrewards.
3. Institutional adoption and the use of the Ministry of Finance
Institutions treating XRP as a serious operational and financial asset have added reliability and demand, indicating increased confidence in its long-term stability.
By using XRP for liquidity management, settlements and cross-border transfers, these players examine their utility beyond speculation and strengthen their role as an institution-grade digital asset.
example:
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In addition to investing in Ripple, SBI Holdings also integrates XRP into its subsidiary (SBI Remit, SBI VC Trade) and holds a critical XRP reserve.
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Santander (Spain) tested Ripplenet and investigated XRP-based payments for cross-border payments via one Pay FX platform.
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Bank of America has investigated XRP payments for cross-border efficiency and has been reported as a ripple partner.
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Travel platform Webus is putting aside the large XRP reserves managed by the institution’s fund managers to support loyalty and settlement operations.
When a company integrates XRP into a balance sheet or payment system, it shows reliability and provides real demand beyond traders.
4. Technical features and ledger upgrades
XRPL offers speed, scalability and innovation, and continues to attract use cases from cross-border payments and stubcoin issuance to tokenized assets and distributed finance (DEFI) integrations.
Its low cost and environmentally friendly consensus model makes it one of the most practical blockchains for real adoption.
example:
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Transaction speed: It calms down in 3-5 seconds compared to 10 minutes for Bitcoin and 2-5 days for Swift. This underpin transfer and microtransaction use case.
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Low cost: On average, the fees are only a small portion of a cent, making them perfect for loyalty programs, micropayments and small rewards.
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XLS-20 fix: We have introduced native, non-fan tokens (NFTs) to XRPL, allowing loyalty points, tickets and collectibles to be directly on-chain tokenized.
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XLS-70/XLS-80 Proposal: Improve digital qualifications and permitted domain controls, important for regulated financial and corporate use.
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Solowenic: Stocks (built on XRPL) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) show how XRPL Technical supports financial assets beyond payments.
The focus of XRPL on real scalability is why businesses view it as infrastructure, not just a speculative chain.
Did you know? The XRP ledger does not rely on mining such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. Instead, we use a unique consensus mechanism validated by a global network of over 150 independent validators, including universities, financial institutions and community-run nodes, to see transactions in just 3-5 seconds.
5. Regulation Clarity and Network Effects
The long-term value of XRP is tied not only to technology and adoption, but also to how regulators treat it and how they integrate large networks. By 2025, regulatory and market environments will shift dramatically, with XRP increasing clarity and momentum.
Clear legal status
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In July 2023, US District Judge Annalisa Torres said that XRP was do not have Security when sold on an exchange may be subject to the securities law for direct institutional sales.
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In August 2025, Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officially concluded their five-year legal battle. The SEC has withdrawn the appeal and Ripple agreed to pay a civil penalty of $125 million. This conclusion provides a much-anticipated finality and regulatory certainty in the US market.
Local regulations consistency
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Japan: XRP continues to be one of the few cryptocurrencies with a clear legal status thanks to its aggressive rules and the advocacy of SBI Holdings.
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UK and EU: Ripple aligns XRP usage with the EU market of the Crypto-Assets (MICA) framework to ensure compliance in the European market.
Growth of number networks
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As of 2025, there are over 6.6 million active XRP wallets worldwide. Blockchain Explorer estimates that over 6 million individual XRPL accounts have been created.
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SBI Group’s Crypto Exchange (SBI VC Trade and Bitpoint Japan) grew rapidly from approximately 807,000 accounts in March 2024 to approximately 1.65 million accounts by March 2025.
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SBI Holdings itself holds approximately 1.6 trillion yen ($10 billion) of XRP and ripple-related assets, which is greater than its own market capitalization of 1.2 trillion yen.
The network effect increases as banks, exchanges and consumer platforms adopt XRP. Liquidity, more corridors, more opportunities to use XRP in everyday life.
Why is this important?
The end of the 2025 Ripple vs. SEC case eliminates one of the biggest overhangs in XRP. Coupled with the clarity of regulations in Asia and Europe, along with measurable growth in wallets, accounts and corporate reserves, XRP now has both legal certainty and network reach to drive adoption beyond speculation.
XRP is still facing
XRP enters 2025 with expanded legal clarity and integration, but still lagging in use compared to Stablecoins like USDC (USDC).
At the same time, Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCS) are increasing competition between broad regulatory support and global payment networks. Against this background, the future of XRP depends on whether it can be adopted for concrete and widespread use beyond infrastructure.
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Adoption and Actual Usage: There are many integrations, but user activity remains lower than potential. Compared to Stablecoins, USDC (from Circle) shows a huge on-chain volume. For example, in 2025, USDC’s annual trading volume is only a few trillion dollars ($5.9 trillion per year) on-chain transfer. Its scale is much wider than many non-fiat cryptocurrencies (payments, transfers, etc.), suggesting that people use stubcoins much more widely.
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competition: In 2025, Stablecoins and CBDCS bring strong competition with the network for XRP: Fireblocks payments. Circle’s ARC network and Circle + FIS partnership promote USDC adoption in more than 100 countries.
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Regulations: The regulations remain the double-edged sword of XRP. The US case ending in 2025 has brought legal clarity, but some regions still limit or refuse to recognize XRP as money. China has banned most encryption, forced workarounds overseas only, and global Stablecoin laws are tightening and raising compliance standards, but also boosting the confidence of rivals like USDC. This combination of advancements and barriers means that the potential for XRP adoption remains uneven across the market.
Given these challenges, the future of XRP will depend on whether adoption can expand from integration to everyday use, and how it can navigate stable and competition from CBDCs.
With legal clarity and growing global partnerships, XRP is at a crossroads. While poised to bridge traditional financial and digital assets, it is challenging to prove that it can thrive in a rapidly evolving payment landscape.
This article does not include investment advice or recommendations. All investment and trading movements include risk and readers must do their own research when making decisions.