Here’s how XRP surpasses BTC and ETH in Q1 2025: Ripple Report

In the quarter where most major crypto assets interleaved or stand, XRP sprinted forward, releasing one of its strongest performances in recent years.

Ripple’s final XRP Market Report was released on May 5, bringing the 2025 crown to the token’s breakthrough period as it rides on the back of legal defense, deepening institutional ties and strong market metrics.

Legal victory and regulatory shift

XRP’s newfound dominance is closely linked to its victory over the Securities and Exchange Commission, which, according to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, eventually sparked an appeal after years of legal disputes.

The regulator’s retreat also lowered the $125 million fine imposed on Ripple, which now expects the company to pay $50 million, eliminating the path to institutional participation.

But the court is not the only battlefield for XRP this quarter, and the report also highlights its victory in the market. In early 2025, cryptocurrencies experienced a rally, with prices rising by 50%, briefly hitting $3.40, a level not reached since the beginning of 2018. This surge is also true even with the double-digit decline in AltCoins Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (Sol) (SOL) registrations.

Since then, some gains have been made since February. According to Coingecko, its current price is $2.12, 2.5% from the price 24 hours ago, down 6.5% in the past week. However, the scaling showed a year-on-year increase of 295%, in sharp contrast to Bitcoin’s growth of 47.2%, while Ethereum’s 43.1% drop in the same period.

According to the report, XRP’s trading volume also reflects this advantage, as the token was above $16 billion in February and had an average daily volume (ADV) of $3.2 billion in the first quarter of 2025.

However, not all indicators are flashing green. Chain activity on XRP Ledger (XRPL) contracted side by side with other Layer-1 networks, with transactions down 37% compared to Q4 2024 and 40% drop in new wallets.

Institutional needs

In addition to price action, the institutional trend has also reversed the support of XRP. Ripple recently announced that its $1.25 billion acquisition of brokerage giants hides the path, suggesting embedding its own tokens into traditional financial infrastructure.

The Hidden Roads plan uses the dollar-backed Stablecoin of Rlusd (Rlusd), Rlusd (Rlusd) as collateral and integrates XRPL into its subsequent post-trade workflow for FX, swaps and warehouse markets, marking a huge leap in institutional-level blockchain adoption.

Meanwhile, Wall Street has caught up: investment firm Franklin Templeton has applied for an on-site XRP ETF in the United States, and CME Group recently announced XRP Futures, the SEC owns three ETF products from Proshares.

In Latin America, Brazil’s Comissão de Valores Mobiliários approved a dedicated XRP ETF, while Vermont-based Teucrium launched a leveraged XRP product that released a $5 million debut, landing in the top 5% of the new ETF launch.