XRP’s 2025 recap – Trump’s re-election, SEC lawsuit, and more…

Has XRP actually made progress under Trump, or is it being used as a political narrative? As 2025 closes, this question captures the year of dramatic shifts for the digital asset. It was a twelve-month period that saw a US presidential re-election, a definitive end to a years-long legal battle, a historic price surge, and the launch of a new generation of institutional investment vehicles.Ripple [XRP] made tangible progress this year, but its momentum remains tightly tied to political and regulatory shifts under the new administration.The Biden-Gensler EraUnder President Joe Biden and SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the crypto market faced aggressive “regulation by enforcement.” For XRP, this meant years of suppression following the SEC’s December 2020 lawsuit, which alleged Ripple Labs sold unregistered securities. Despite a landmark partial victory in July 2023, where a federal judge ruled that retail sales of XRP were notsecurities, the SEC filed an appeal in October 2024. This prolonged uncertainty suppressed investor confidence, limiting XRP’s integration and keeping its price action largely sideways throughout 2024.Trump’s re-election and XRP’s lawsuit closureHowever, the landscape rapidly changed with the re-election of Donald Trump in November 2024. It showed us a dramatic departure from the regulatory hostility of the previous administration.As expected, the legal tide also turned drastically in 2025. Following the SEC filing its latest appellate brief in January, the agency, facing new political pressure and a change in leadership tone, began reversing course.In March 2025, the SEC officially dropped its appeal of the 2023 ruling.And finally, in May 2025, Ripple and the SEC reached a final settlement.Moving forward, Ripple agreed to pay a penalty of $50 million, a significant reduction from the $125 million fine ordered during the remedies phase in August 2024.This final resolution provided the industry with the clarity needed, cementing XRP’s status as a non-security on secondary markets. In response, the XRP price soared, peaking above $3, a level not seen since 2018.XRP’s political turnThe end of the lawsuit, widely seen as favorable to Ripple, coincided with the company’s notable political influence. Ripple Labs, alongside other crypto entities, was reported to have given significant donations, including nearly $5 million, to Trump-affiliated funds. The connection was made explicit in March 2025 when President Trump included XRP in a list of digital assets intended for a planned U.S. strategic crypto reserve.This sequence of events fueled the narrative that XRP’s regulatory progress was bought,though no direct evidence supports this.ETF spotlight and the next danger zoneNow, at the close of 2025, the XRP ETF has seized the spotlight.Multiple issuers launched Spot XRP ETFs starting in September, marking a crucial step toward mainstream institutional adoption.As many established assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs faced selling pressure in the final quarter, the new altcoin ETFs for Solana and XRP saw massive inflows.The Canary Capital XRP ETF, for instance, recorded a record debut volume. Yet, despite the ETF buzz, XRP had been consolidating near the $2.04 mark at press time.Hence, to sustain the rally and validate the ETF-driven hype, analysts agree that XRP must decisively clear the $2.45 resistance level.The market faces a key danger zone. If it fails to break through this area, the price may retrace toward the support floor of $2.10 to $2.00.This situation indicates that although the political and regulatory battle has been won, the fight for sustained price stability is only just beginning.