3 Years After The Key Ripple-SEC Ruling: How XRP Went From SEC Target to Institutional Asset
Three years ago, on July 13, 2023, Judge Analisa Torres delivered a landmark ruling that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP on crypto exchanges did not constitute securities transactions. This decision remains one of the most important legal moments in the industry’s history.
The ruling distinguished between XRP sold to institutional investors, which violated securities laws, and tokens sold on public exchanges, which did not. The immediate market reaction saw XRP soar over 70% in a single day as major US exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini relisted the token after suspending trading following the SEC’s lawsuit.
XRP staged a powerful rally in late 2024, climbing above $3 in early 2025 before hitting a new all-time high in July that year. Although it later gave up some gains amid a broader market downturn, XRP stood above $1 on the ruling’s third anniversary. Ripple also launched its US dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, in December 2024.
Following the ruling, Ripple expanded beyond XRP through strategic partnerships and acquisitions. It partnered with African payments network Onafriq for cross-border payments, added the Axelar Foundation for interoperability on XRP Ledger (XRPL), and collaborated with Clear Junction for euro payment rails. Later, it worked with Archax and OpenEden on tokenized real-world assets and US Treasury bills.
In 2025, Ripple signed partnerships with South Korean institutional custody firm BDACS, tokenization platform Ctrl Alt for Dubai’s real estate tokenization project, and appointed BNY Mellon as RLUSD’s primary custodian. Acquisitions included Standard Custody & Trust Company to bolster regulatory compliance, and the $1.25 billion purchase of global prime broker Hidden Road, expanding into institutional prime brokerage, clearing, and financing.
The Torres ruling also paved the way for XRP’s entry into the US ETF market. Asset managers including Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Canary Capital, and 21Shares filed for spot XRP ETFs, which began launching in late 2025. These funds have since dominated crypto ETF flows, though they recorded a small outflow of $2.50 million in July 2025 after a nine-week green streak.