Q1 2025 XRP Markets Report

The Future of the XRP Markets Report
Since 2017Ripple has published the XRP Markets Report to provide transparency into its XRP holdings and to share timely updates on the state of the crypto markets and the XRP ecosystem. Ripple has always believed that open communication builds trust—and for yearsthe company used this report to offer insights that few others in the industry were willing to sharehoping to encourage broader transparency from industry players. Howeverthe reality is that the report has not had the intended effect. In many instancesRipple’s transparency has been used against the company—most notably by former SEC leadership.

After careful considerationRipple has made the decision to sunset the report in its current form starting in Q2 2025. While the report is evolvingRipple will continue to be transparent and share relevant updates on Ripple and XRP-related announcements through its official channelsincluding Ripple and RippleXDevand will maintain public access to its XRP holdings on the company’s website. As more institutions engage with XRPadditional perspectives and insights are expected to followpushing the market conversation forward.

Key Highlights

• Institutions continued to back new XRP productswith Franklin Templeton filing an S-1CME announcing the launch of XRP futuresand Brazil’s Comissão de Valores Mobiliários approving a dedicated XRP ETF.
• The SEC officially withdrew its appealclosing the chapter on a multi-year legal saga that tested the limits of regulatory overreach and the war on crypto. 
• Ripple acquired Hidden Road for $1.25B — one of the largest M&A deals in crypto history – driving more institutional use cases for RLUSD and XRPL.
  

Crypto Markets Summary 
In Q1 2025optimism across the crypto industry remained highfueled by a wave of positive developments from the new US administration. Key milestonesincluding Trump’s executive order signaling support for cryptothe confirmation of Paul Atkins as SEC Chairmanand bipartisan momentum around stablecoin legislationrenewed hopes for regulatory clarity in the US.

At the same timemarket turbulence and macroeconomic uncertainty mounted as tariffs tensions escalated through February and March. Despite the volatilityXRP stood out as a top performershowing resilience amid a volatile market and outperforming nearly every major crypto. Throughout Q1XRP outpaced assets like BTC and ETH—at one point climbing nearly 50% in early February. While ETH and SOL trended sharply downward and BTC hovered near breakevenXRP demonstrated clear relative strength.

XRP exchange-traded products continued to gain traction globallywith increased listings and inflows. XRP-based investment products outperformed their Bitcoin and Ethereum counterpartsrecording $37.7M in inflows and bringing their year-to-date total to $214M — just $1M shy of overtaking global Ethereum funds. Franklin Templeton filed an S-1 for a spot XRP ETF in the U.S.CME announced the expansion of its crypto derivatives suite with the launch of XRP futuresand Volatility Shares submitted applications for three XRP ETFs. Brazil’s Comissão de Valores Mobiliários approved a dedicated XRP ETFexpanding access in Latin Americawhile Teucrium's 2x Long Daily XRP ETF debuted with $5M in trading volumeranking it among the top 5% of new ETF launches.

A New Chapter: SEC Case ClosedU.S. Policy Evolving
In Q1the SEC informed Ripple of its intent to withdraw its appeal — a clear victory for both Ripple and the broader crypto industry. Following Ripple’s decision to withdraw its own cross-appealthe SEC agreed to reduce the proposed penalty from $125M to $50M— and request the court vacate the injunctionpending SEC Commission approval. This outcome reaffirmed what had been clear from day one: the facts and the law were on Ripple’s side.

Meanwhilethe new U.S. administration has taken meaningful steps toward turning the page on crypto regulationsignaling a more rationalclearand forward-looking approach. Key developments included:

• The repeal of SAB 121 ended a long-criticized accounting rule that prevented banks from engaging with crypto custody.
• New guidance from the OCC affirming banks' ability to custody crypto.
• Revised FDIC policies that opened doors for traditional financial institutions to explore crypto.
• Strong bipartisan momentum around federal stablecoin legislationaimed to bring clarity to one of the fastest-growing sectors in the crypto space.

Lastlythe SEC dropped or resolved multiple high-profile enforcement actionsincluding those against CoinbaseKrakenRobinhoodOpenSeaand Uniswap Labsindicating a meaningful and positive shift in regulatory tone.

Ripple’s Acquisition of Hidden RoadUnlocking New Institutional Use Cases for RLUSD and XRPL
Ripple announced its intent to acquire Hidden Roada global multi-asset prime brokerin a landmark $1.25B dealmaking it one of the largest acquisitions in crypto history. Hidden Road will begin using RLUSD as collateral across its suite of products to enable cross-margining between crypto and traditional finance instruments. 

Over timeHidden Road will leverage the XRP Ledger to streamline parts of its post-trade operationsincluding FXswapsand repo marketsto reduce operational expenses and increase efficiency. This partnership marks a significant milestone in institutional adoption of blockchain infrastructure.

Deep Dive: XRP Markets 
For this reportRipple uses market metrics from public sources including CoinDesk DataBloombergand Refinitiv Eikon.

Traded XRP volumes remained constant over the past six monthswith the average daily volumes (ADV) in Q1 '25 sitting at $3.2B on top-tier exchangesaccording to CoinDesk Data. The XRP/BTC ratio increased yet another time in Q1 by more than 10%highlighting the strong relative performance against the major currency in the ecosystem.

Chart 1: XRP Price and Realized Volatility
XRP continued last year’s momentumrallying in the first half of Q1 to nearly $3.40 — levels last seen in January 2018. Howevera relatively stable period at the start of January led to a drop in realized volatility from approximately 150% to 100%before spiking back to 130% in Februarywhere it remained through the end of the quarter.

Table 1: Major Tokens Price and Volume (End of Q1‘25 figures)
USD prices and average trading volume reflects daily trading activity for the USD and crypto pairs on top tier exchanges as measured by CoinDesk Data’s CADLI index.

Chart 2: XRP Spot Exchange Volume
Traded volumes spiked sharply in the second half of January and again in early Februarypeaking above $16Bbefore gradually declining through March and into April. Binance consistently dominated trading activitywith notable volume surges across multiple exchanges during market peaks.

Chart 3: XRP Spot Exchange Volume (%)
Stable distribution across major exchanges in Q1with Binance (~40%) leading the packfollowed by Upbit (~15%) and Coinbase (~12%). Bybit’s share decreased significantly after the February hack.

Chart 4: Spot Traded Volume
The percentage of USD and USD stablecoin volume traded through fiat pairs increased from 25% in Q4 ‘24  to 29% in Q1. The majority of XRP trading activity continues to be against USDT.

XRPL On-Chain Activity 
After a period of significant growth in Q4 ‘24on-chain activity on the XRP Ledger saw a normalization last quarter. There was a 30–40% decline in both new wallet creation and overall transaction volume on XRPL — in line with activity contractions seen across major blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Despite this coolingDeFi activity proved to be more resilient than other segmentswith DEX volume decreasing by just 16% quarter-over-quarteroutperforming declines across most other chains. 

RLUSD emerged as one driver of on-chain activity with its market cap surpassing $90M and cumulative DEX volume exceeding $300M.

Ripple’s XRP Holdings 
Ripple reports information about its XRP holdings at the beginning of the quarter and last day of the quarter. Its holdings fall into two categories: XRP that it currently has available in its walletsand XRP that is subject to on-ledger escrow lockups that will be released each month over the next 42 months. 

For this latter categoryRipple does not have access to that XRP until the escrow releases it to Ripple on a monthly basis. The remaining XRP released is put back into the escrow each month. 

Note: From time to timeRipple supports or transfers to third partiessuch as ETPstrustsand other investmentsXRP that Ripple reasonably expects to maintain in its holdings. When doing soa reduced amount of XRP may be returned to escrow that month. Until and unless Ripple expects such XRP to enter the broader market (throughfor examplefurther transfers to third parties)that XRP is included in “XRP Held by Ripple.”

December 312024
Total XRP Held by Ripple: 4,485,366,320 
Total XRP Subject to On-Ledger Escrow: 38,030,000,005

March 312025
Total XRP Held by Ripple: 4,562,433,147
Total XRP Subject to On-Ledger Escrow: 37,130,000,005