XRP Rises: Welcoming the ETF Wave, Ripple Acquires Hidden Road, SEC Surrenders

XRP exploded in 2025 as a breakthrough cryptocurrency, surpassing competitors thanks to ETF capital inflows, regulatory breakthroughs, and the acquisition of Ripple valued at 1.25 billion dollars boosting institutional dominance. XRP Leads with the Increase of ETF, Clearer Rules, and Large Acquisition of Ripple Ripple Labs has announced the XRP Market Report for Q1 2025 earlier this week, highlighting the outstanding market performance of XRP, the increasing adoption by institutions, and major management solutions. This is the final report in the current format, as Ripple has cited the misuse by the former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). XRP updates will now be shared publicly, with holdings disclosed on the company's website. The report presents an optimistic outlook on the market behavior of XRP in Q1, highlighting its strength in the context of broader cryptocurrency volatility. Ripple stated: Despite the volatility, XRP stands out as the best-performing cryptocurrency, demonstrating resilience amidst market fluctuations and outperforming most major cryptocurrencies. "Throughout Q1, XRP surpassed assets like BTC and ETH — at one point increasing nearly 50% in early February. While ETH and SOL showed a strong downward trend and BTC hovered near breakeven, XRP demonstrated a relatively clear strength," Ripple added. Support from organizations has increased in the context of the wave of trading activity of the exchange (ETF). The exchange-traded products (ETP) XRP are witnessing global growth through multiple listings and inflows. The report notes that the investment products based on XRP are performing better than those linked to bitcoin and ethereum, recording $37.7 million in inflows and raising the total for the year to $214 million—just $1 million short of surpassing the total global Ethereum funds. Notably, Franklin Templeton has filed an S-1 for a spot XRP ETF in the United States, CME has announced plans to launch XRP futures contracts, and Volatility Shares has applied for three XRP-focused ETFs. Brazil's Comissão de Valores Mobiliários has approved a dedicated XRP ETF, and Teucrium's 2x daily long XRP ETF has launched with a trading volume of $5 million, placing it in the top 5% of newly launched ETFs globally. Ripple's acquisition of Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, one of the largest mergers in the history of cryptocurrency, has emphasized the company's increasing presence. The company asserts: Over time, Hidden Road will leverage the XRP Ledger to streamline certain post-trade activities, including FX markets, swaps, and repos, in order to reduce operational costs and enhance efficiency. In addition, Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD, will be used as collateral across the entire product suite of Hidden Road, thereby integrating Ripple's infrastructure into the organization's workflow. In terms of regulation, the SEC has withdrawn its appeal against Ripple, agreeing to reduce the penalty from $125 million to $50 million and requesting the court to lift the injunction. Combined with favorable developments from the new U.S. administration—including the repeal of SAB 121, updated OCC cryptocurrency custody guidance, and FDIC policy amendments—Ripple describes this changing environment as a turning point for regulatory clarity in the United States.