For nearly a decade, XRP has been the underdog of the digital-asset world, overshadowed by Bitcoin’s narrative dominance, Ethereum’s developer gravity, and Solana’s speed headlines.
Yet while most of the market debated ETFs and exchange listings, XRP’s core network, the XRP Ledger (XRPL), kept quietly evolving in the background.
It is now re-emerging as an infrastructure layer blockchain network that powers real-world payments, stablecoins, and the early wave of tokenized assets.
From litigation to licensing
Ripple’s long regulatory standoff ended in August 2025, closing a chapter that defined much of XRP’s last decade.
A US court confirmed that XRP’s retail sales are not securities, while Ripple paid a $125 million civil penalty to settle institutional violations. With both sides dropping appeals, the decision gave Ripple the legal certainty it lacked for so many years.
That clarity has allowed Ripple to secure over 40 US money-transmitter licenses, including New York, Texas, and California, granting it a nationwide footprint for crypto-fiat settlement.
The effect has been immediate as XRP could finally integrate with regulated payment partners, which is something few US-linked blockchains can do.
Behind those regulatory wins, the XRP Ledger itself began to show new life. Transactions tied to payment and treasury activity have risen sharply, reflecting renewed interest from financial institutions that once kept their distance.
In regions like Africa and Southeast Asia, where stablecoins have become the default rail for remittances, XRPL is now positioning itself as a compliance-ready alternative to Tron and other permissionless networks.
