Ripple’s Global Expansion & XRP ETF Success Drive 2025 Growth

Emerging from years of regulatory focus in its home market, Ripple has aggressively pursued global growth, with the Middle East becoming a cornerstone of its strategy. The company recently extended its partnership with UAE-based Zand Bank, as confirmed by Ripple’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, Reece Merrick. The collaboration will now explore a range of initiatives, including the integration of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin within Zand’s regulated digital asset custody services. This move deepens Ripple’s footprint in a key region, following notable progress in markets like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Concurrent with its geographic expansion, Ripple has achieved a significant corporate milestone. Members of the dedicated XRP Army community revealed that the company has entered the global top 10 list of most valuable private companies, securing the tenth position with a valuation of $40 billion. This places Ripple among elite peers like SpaceX, OpenAI, xAI, and Revolut, reflecting substantial investor confidence in its long-term vision and cross-border payment infrastructure.

2025 has proven to be a landmark year for Ripple’s native asset, XRP, with the launch of the first spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) dedicated to the cryptocurrency. Canary Capital pioneered this development in mid-November with its XRPC product, which offers 100% exposure to XRP. The move was quickly followed by major asset managers including Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, 21Shares, and Grayscale, signaling robust institutional interest.

The response from investors has been overwhelmingly positive. Cumulative net inflows into these spot XRP ETFs have surged past $1.23 billion, demonstrating strong capital allocation. Notably, these funds have maintained positive net inflows even amid recent market turbulence, with the last day of net outflows recorded on January 29. This sustained demand highlights XRP’s growing acceptance as a legitimate asset class within traditional finance portfolios.

The theme of institutional adoption will take center stage at the upcoming XRP Community Day on February 11. The global event will feature a fireside chat between Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and prominent crypto podcaster Tony Edward. They are expected to delve into XRP’s growing real-world usage and the macro shift toward institutional acceptance of digital assets, with other sessions featuring executives from Bitwise, Grayscale, and Gemini.

XRP’s price action mirrors the broader crypto market’s volatility but has shown notable resilience. After plunging to a low of $1.11 during the market-wide correction that began on February 6, the asset has partially recovered. It currently trades around $1.42, marking a 3% gain over the past week as bulls reclaimed some lost ground.

Analysts, however, remain divided on the short-term trajectory. Some, like X user Robert Mercer, foresee a potential correction back toward $1.10 “very soon.” Crypto Seth similarly warned that losing the support area around $1.41 could trigger a drop to the $1 level. In contrast, long-term optimists like EGRAG CRYPTO draw on historical precedent, noting XRP’s rise from $0.30 a few years ago to above $3 in 2025. This perspective fuels speculative forecasts of a future surge to $30, though such a rally would require a market capitalization exceeding $1.8 trillion—a scenario widely viewed as unrealistic in the current landscape.