XRP has eliminated the need for pre-funding, accelerated cross-border remittance speeds, and has practical application value in emerging markets.
Loyalty and travel programs are integrating XRP into daily life, transforming it from an investment asset into a practical payment tool.
Institutions like SBI and Santander have enhanced its credibility by holding XRP reserves and exploring settlement applications.
With the resolution of the SEC case and increased global regulatory transparency, XRP has gained legal certainty and network coverage, paving the way for broader adoption.
XRP (XRP) is the native digital asset of the XRP Ledger (XRPL). While often discussed in terms of speculative gains or losses, its significance extends far beyond that. XRP holds deeper meaning in real-world application scenarios, institutional support, and regulatory transparency.
The following five factors reveal why XRP is not just reflected in market prices.
International payments are one of XRP's strongest value drivers. It eliminates the need for pre-funding, shortens settlement times, reduces costs, and acts as a bridge currency.
Examples:
SBI Remit (Japan) uses XRP to remit funds in real-time to the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia, helping migrant workers send money back home.
Tranglo (Southeast Asia) collaborates with Ripple to utilize XRP to facilitate remittance corridors between Malaysia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh.
Pyypl (Middle East and Africa) integrates XRP to enable remittances between Africa and Asia, serving unbanked populations.
Ripple partners with Banco Rendimento (Brazil) to allow businesses and individuals to use XRP as a settlement bridge for global fund flows.
Compared to SWIFT, which can take days and incur high fees, XRP's near-instant settlement advantage is particularly pronounced in emerging markets, meeting urgent remittance needs.
The application of XRP outside of financial institutions is increasing, especially in loyalty, travel, and consumer services. Millions of users can thus use XRP in their daily lives.
Examples:
Webus/Wetour has established a $300 million XRP reserve to support blockchain-based travel vouchers, points, and settlement infrastructure. Over 60 million loyalty members will be able to use XRP for overseas services such as airport transfers, premium travel, and tourism experiences.
SBI VC Trade (Japan) rewards customers with XRP through loyalty programs, expanding its use cases beyond trading.
When loyalty programs adopt XRP, its attributes shift from investment assets to tools for daily user interaction, covering scenarios like redeeming points and paying for travel expenses.
Notably, the XRP TipBot (Netherlands, now discontinued) once allowed users to tip XRP on social platforms, showcasing the micro-reward potential within the loyalty ecosystem.
Institutions view XRP as an operational and reserve asset, enhancing its credibility and demand, demonstrating confidence in long-term stability.
Businesses use XRP for liquidity management, settlement, and cross-border transfers, validating its practicality beyond speculation and solidifying its status as an institutional-grade digital asset.
Examples:
SBI Holdings not only invests in Ripple but also integrates XRP in its subsidiaries (SBI Remit, SBI VC Trade) and holds a significant XRP reserve.
Santander (Spain) tested RippleNet and explored XRP-based cross-border payment settlements, piloting on the One Pay FX platform.
Bank of America has been reported as a Ripple partner, exploring the use of XRP to enhance cross-border settlement efficiency.
The travel platform WeBus has established a large XRP reserve managed by institutional fund managers to support loyalty and settlement operations.
By incorporating XRP into their balance sheets or payment systems, companies not only demonstrate confidence but also create real demand, extending its application beyond traders.
The XRPL boasts speed, scalability, and innovation, continuously attracting diverse applications such as cross-border payments, stablecoin issuance, asset tokenization, and decentralized finance (DeFi) integration.
Its low fees and environmentally friendly consensus mechanism make it one of the most practical blockchains for real-world applications.
Examples:
Transaction speed: Settlements are completed in 3 to 5 seconds, significantly faster than Bitcoin's 10 minutes or SWIFT's 2 to 5 days, supporting remittance and micropayment scenarios.
Low cost: Fees average only a few cents, making it ideal for loyalty programs, micropayments, and small rewards.
XLS-20 amendment: Introduces native NFTs on the XRPL, enabling direct on-chain tokenization of points, tickets, and collectibles.
XLS-70/XLS-80 proposals: Enhance digital credentials and permission domain control, crucial for regulated financial and enterprise users.
Sologenic: (built on XRPL) enables the tokenization of stocks and ETFs, showcasing XRPL's capability to support financial assets beyond payments.
The XRPL focuses on real-world scalability, with businesses viewing it as infrastructure rather than merely a speculative chain.
It is worth noting that the XRP Ledger does not rely on a mining mechanism like Bitcoin or Ethereum but employs a unique consensus mechanism validated by over 150 independent validators worldwide (including universities, financial institutions, and community nodes), confirming transactions in just 3 to 5 seconds.
The long-term value of XRP depends not only on technology and adoption but also closely relates to regulatory attitudes and the degree of integration into large networks. By 2025, significant changes in the regulatory and market environment will grant XRP greater transparency and momentum for development.
In July 2023, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP does not constitute a security when sold on exchanges, but sales directly to institutions may be subject to securities laws.
In August 2025, Ripple officially ended a five-year legal dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC withdrew its appeal, and Ripple agreed to pay a $125 million civil penalty. This outcome brings much-anticipated finality and regulatory certainty to the U.S. market.
Japan: XRP continues to be one of the few cryptocurrencies with a clear legal status due to proactive regulation and the push from SBI Holdings.
UK and EU: Ripple actively promotes XRP's compliance with the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework to ensure compliance in the European market.
By 2025, there will be 6.6 million active XRP wallets globally. Blockchain explorers estimate that the total number of XRPL accounts exceeds 6 million.
The number of accounts on SBI Group's cryptocurrency exchanges (SBI VC Trade and BITPoint Japan) grew from approximately 807,000 in March 2024 to about 1.65 million in March 2025.
SBI Holdings itself holds approximately 1.6 trillion yen ($10 billion) in XRP and Ripple-related assets, exceeding its market capitalization.
As banks, exchanges, and consumer platforms increasingly adopt XRP, the network effect continues to strengthen: liquidity increases, channels multiply, and daily application opportunities expand.
Why is this important?
The conclusion of the Ripple vs. SEC case in 2025 eliminates one of the biggest uncertainties surrounding XRP. Combined with regulatory transparency in Asia and Europe, as well as the quantifiable growth of wallets, accounts, and institutional reserves, XRP now possesses both legal certainty and network coverage, driving adoption far beyond speculation.
XRP gained legal transparency and continued integration in 2025, but its actual use still lags behind stablecoins like USDC (USDC), which have annual transaction volumes reaching trillions of dollars.
Meanwhile, stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are intensifying competition, driven by widespread regulatory support and global payment networks. In this context, XRP's future will depend on its ability to scale adoption from infrastructure to tangible, widespread real-world use.
Adoption vs. actual use: While integration is extensive, user activity remains below potential. Compared to stablecoins, USDC (issued by Circle) has massive on-chain transaction volumes. For example, in 2025, the total on-chain transfer volume of USDC reached $5.9 trillion. This scale indicates that stablecoins are applied in payment, remittance, and other scenarios far beyond most non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies.
Competition: In 2025, stablecoins and CBDCs pose a strong challenge to XRP: Fireblocks payment network, Circle's Arc payment network, and Circle's collaboration with FIS to promote USDC adoption in over 100 countries, while CBDCs promise state-backed digital currencies with regulatory trust and convenient bank integration advantages.
Regulation: Regulation remains a double-edged sword for XRP. The conclusion of the U.S. case in 2025 brings legal certainty, but some regions still restrict or refuse to recognize XRP as currency. China prohibits the use of most cryptocurrencies, adopting overseas solutions, while global stablecoin regulations are tightening, raising compliance thresholds and enhancing trust in competitors like USDC. This has led to uneven adoption potential for XRP across markets.
Given these challenges, XRP's future depends on its ability to expand its adoption from integration to everyday use and effectively respond to competition from stablecoins and CBDCs.
Currently, XRP has gained legal certainty, and its global partnerships are continuously expanding, placing it at a critical crossroads. It is poised to connect traditional finance with digital assets but must prove its ongoing development capabilities in the rapidly evolving payments landscape.
Related: Swift and Consensys collaborate to establish a blockchain settlement system
This article does not contain any investment advice or recommendations. All investment and trading activities carry risks, and readers should conduct their own research before making decisions.
Original article: “Why XRP Matters: 5 Key Factors Driving Its Value Beyond Price”
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