After regaining a top-three market cap position, what has Ripple accomplished in recent years besides ETF expectations?

By Yangz, Techub News

Since December 21, 2020, the battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lasted nearly four years. During this time, although XRP surged to 1.9 USDT during the 2021 bull market, it has largely hovered around 0.5 USDT throughout the prolonged bear market. Despite occasional rebounds fueled by litigation developments, XRP had long ceased to be a favored asset among investors.

Yet, to many people's surprise, after Trump announced his victory in the U.S. presidential election in November, XRP began a sharp rally—reaching as high as 2.9 USDT on Monday (down to 2.55 USDT at the time of writing), setting a new all-time high. Its market capitalization also briefly surpassed Solana’s, reclaiming third place globally.

There are always countless reasons for a price surge—beyond external factors like "regulatory tailwinds" or claims of a "new altseason," we’d like to explore what Ripple itself has actually been doing over these past few years.

Persistent Expansion in Business

Besides fighting the SEC, Ripple has consistently focused since its inception on building infrastructure for cross-border payments.

Prior to receiving the SEC lawsuit, Ripple had already achieved notable success in this domain. In 2014, it secured its first major banking partner—Germany’s Fidor Bank. Subsequently, partnerships followed with Santander and American Express. Beyond banks, Ripple made significant strides in the global remittance market. In 2018, Ripple initiated a pilot collaboration with MoneyGram, a leading money transfer company, testing XRP within its payment flows. The partnership deepened in 2019 when both parties signed a two-year agreement, with Ripple committing $50 million in investment. According to Ripple’s announcements, by 2019, it had partnered with over 300 financial institutions across more than 40 countries, processing billions of dollars in cross-border transactions.

Possibly due to these achievements being too “prominent,” Ripple was sued by the SEC in December 2020, initiating a protracted legal battle. Nevertheless, Ripple did not halt its development efforts.

In 2021, Ripple acquired a 40% stake in Tranglo, an Asia-based cross-border payment firm. That July, it partnered with SBI Remit—the largest remittance provider in Japan—and Coins.ph, a Philippine mobile wallet service, to launch RippleNet’s first real-time, on-demand liquidity (ODL) service in Japan. In November, Ripple collaborated with the Republic of Palau to develop a strategy for cross-border payments and a U.S. dollar-backed digital currency. In 2022, Ripple partnered with Travelex Bank—the first foreign exchange-dedicated bank registered with Brazil’s Central Bank. Later that year, in November, Ripple expanded into Africa through a partnership with MFS Africa, a local digital payment gateway. More recently, Ripple teamed up with Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil’s leading cryptocurrency trading platform, aiming to deliver faster, cheaper, and more efficient cross-border payments for local users. According to Ripple’s official website, it now supports over 80 markets worldwide, having processed over $50 billion in cross-border payments.

Beyond cross-border payments, Ripple has actively diversified into other areas, including crypto custody, stablecoins, CBDCs, and RWA.

In 2023, Ripple acquired Metaco, a Swiss digital asset custody and tokenization technology provider, officially entering the crypto custody space. In December, it formed a partnership with Zodia Custody, a digital asset custodian. This year, Ripple completed the acquisition of Standard Custody & Trust Company, further advancing its custody business.

On the stablecoin front, Ripple announced an expanded collaboration with the Republic of Palau last year, planning to launch a U.S. dollar-pegged Palau stablecoin on the XRP Ledger. This year, Ripple announced its own native U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD—marking a strategic shift from its previous reliance solely on XRP. In its announcement, Ripple stated that RLUSD aims to bring greater utility and liquidity to the XRP Ledger, initially launching on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, with plans to expand to other blockchains over time. According to Fox News, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) approved Ripple’s issuance of the stablecoin on December 4 (no official confirmation had been released at the time of writing). Data from XRPScan shows that the RLUSD Treasury is already conducting minting tests.

For CBDCs, Ripple launched its Ripple CBDC Platform in 2023, offering central banks, governments, and financial institutions services to issue CBDCs. It has since partnered with the Central Bank of the Republic of Colombia and the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).

In the RWA space, Ripple was selected for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s first Digital Hong Kong Dollar pilot program last year, partnering with Fubon Bank to explore tokenization use cases for real estate assets. Recently, Ripple partnered with Archax, an RWA exchange, and UK-based asset management firm abrdn plc to launch the first tokenized money market fund on the XRP Ledger.

Efforts Toward Compliance and Industry Contributions

Beyond business growth, Ripple has made continuous efforts toward regulatory compliance in recent years. In June 2023, Ripple received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for its Major Payment Institution (MPI) license, which was formally granted in October of the same year. In November, Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) approved XRP’s inclusion in its virtual asset framework, allowing the digital asset to be used within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). In December, Ripple Markets Ireland, a subsidiary of Ripple, registered with the Central Bank of Ireland as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP). This October, Ripple made another major announcement—securing in-principle approval from DFSA—marking another solid step forward in its compliance journey.

Additionally, Ripple has consistently advocated for the broader cryptocurrency industry. In May, Ripple donated $25 million to Fairshake, a cryptocurrency political action committee (PAC), adding to a previous $25 million donation last year, bringing its total contribution to $50 million. Last week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced the company would donate another $25 million to Fairshake to support candidates in future U.S. elections who are “pro-crypto, pro-growth, and pro-innovation.” According to Reuters, Ripple and several other crypto firms are currently vying for positions on Trump’s promised cryptocurrency advisory council, seeking influence in shaping U.S. crypto policy reform.

Beyond these initiatives, Ripple continues to contribute quietly in other areas. In May, Coinbase co-founded a technical anti-fraud alliance to combat online scams and financial fraud—with Ripple among the participating companies. In October, Ripple partnered with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), pledging a multi-year commitment of $1 million to support IRC’s work.

Conclusion

When will this four-year battle finally end? Currently, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a final deadline, ordering the SEC to submit its final brief by January 15, 2025. However, given the numerous developments over the past four years, the ultimate outcome of the Ripple vs. SEC case remains uncertain. Yet, considering various favorable signs—including expectations around an XRP ETF and potential leadership changes at the SEC—might Ripple truly experience a “miraculous revival”?