Ripple’s 2025: SEC Victory, XRP ETFs Launch, Whale Sell-Off

The year’s defining moment for Ripple arrived with the conclusion of its protracted legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The final judgment, reached in the summer, required Ripple to pay a civil penalty of approximately $125 million for violating securities laws. This figure represented less than 7% of the nearly $2 billion in disgorgement and penalties initially sought by the regulator. The resolution, following the SEC dropping its appeal in March, was widely interpreted by analysts as a decisive victory for Ripple. Many viewed it as a pivotal, pro-crypto shift at the agency, particularly following the resignation of former Chairman Gary Gensler.

Bolstered by this legal clarity, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse embarked on an aggressive acquisition spree. The most notable deal was the $1.25 billion purchase of prime brokerage Hidden Road, later renamed Ripple Prime, to serve institutional clients. This was complemented by other acquisitions, including Rail for $200 million and treasury management system provider GTreasury for $1 billion. Although rumors of a $5 billion-plus bid for Circle, the issuer of USDC stablecoin, were reportedly rejected, the spending spree underscored Ripple’s ambition to build a comprehensive financial services ecosystem. The year closed with another regulatory milestone: conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter Ripple National Trust Bank, a move later confirmed by Bank of America.

Product development and adoption saw significant breakthroughs. In mid-November, Canary Capital introduced the first spot XRP ETF in the United States, which was swiftly followed by similar products from heavyweights like Bitwise, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, and 21Shares. According to data from SoSoValue, these investment vehicles collectively attracted a cumulative net inflow of around $1.14 billion, demonstrating substantial institutional and retail interest.

Concurrently, Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, launched in late 2024, gained considerable traction. It secured BNY Mellon as its custodian and received regulatory recognition from authorities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. RLUSD’s market capitalization recently surpassed $1.3 billion, making it the 12th-largest stablecoin. However, this corporate and product success starkly contrasted with the performance of XRP itself. The token started the year strong, exceeding $3 in January, and surged to a new all-time high of around $3.65 in July amid a booming broader market. Since that peak, it has undergone a painful correction, trading at approximately $1.87 at the time of writing—a 48% decline.

The recent price downturn has been exacerbated by a sustained selling spree from large XRP holders, commonly referred to as whales. Their actions signal a significant shift in sentiment. Data indicates that towards the end of the year, whales offloaded roughly 1.4 billion tokens in less than a month. This was followed by an additional dump of 510 million tokens in a single week and another 40 million around Christmas. In total, nearly 2 billion XRP were sold by these major investors in a short period.

This mass divestment raises critical questions for the market. The concerted selling pressure not only directly contributes to price depreciation but also risks spreading panic among smaller investors, potentially triggering a wider sell-off. More ominously, it fuels speculation that these well-informed entities might possess negative insider knowledge about XRP’s near-term prospects that is not yet public. While Ripple the corporation has had a landmark year of strategic wins, the behavior of its largest token holders suggests a deep and growing caution regarding XRP’s valuation, indicating the current downtrend may have further to run.