XRP price is on track to finish 2025 down roughly 11–13% year-to-date, ending a two-year run of positive annual returns and underscoring deep market volatility even after major regulatory clarity. The move comes after a year of sharp monthly swings, an August settlement that clarified XRP’s status, and rapid institutional flows via spot ETFs that failed to sustain a market rebound.
XRP opened 2025 near $2.09 and posted an early 46% surge in January, but the rally proved intermittent. The token recorded a series of monthly moves that included a 4.98% rise in April, a 2.95% gain in June and a 35% jump in July that pushed intraday prints above $3.40 (peaking near $3.66).
Offsetting those advances were steep pullbacks: February fell about 29.3%, October dropped 11.9% and the fourth quarter saw a 35.47% decline—its worst quarterly drop since Q2 2022—leaving XRP in the $1.85–$2.00 range by December and roughly 12.4% negative through the end of November.
Traders should note the year’s asymmetric profile: large, concentrated spikes followed by rapid deleveraging. That pattern amplified realized volatility and increased the proportion of holders underwater, pressuring liquidity on many exchanges.
A landmark settlement in August 2025 required Ripple to pay $125 million and included an injunction limited to institutional sales, while finding that XRP sales on public exchanges do not constitute securities transactions, according to 247wallst.
XRP price action and volatility
Spot ETFs for XRP launched in November and gathered nearly $1 billion in assets within four weeks, the fastest uptake compared with early flows into recent Ethereum funds, according to AOL. Concurrently, XRP held on exchanges for more than 60 days fell by about 45%, signalling custody concentration with institutional vehicles and whales rather than broad on-ledger usage.
Network utility did not offset selling pressure. Despite ongoing ODL partnerships, transaction volumes on the XRP Ledger trailed faster, lower-fee platforms such as Solana and Stellar, leaving organic demand insufficient to sustain price after large inflows concentrated ownership with custodians.
The convergence of concentrated ETF custody, post-settlement profit-taking and weaker on-ledger activity raises liquidity and execution risk for large traders and corporate treasuries. Institutional buyers should monitor ETF inflows, exchange balances and whale movement as primary indicators of available market depth. Macro shocks—October tariff announcements that prompted a broader flight from risk assets—also proved capable of overwhelming idiosyncratic positives.
XRP’s 2025 performance illustrates that regulatory certainty and rapid institutional adoption do not guarantee price stability when ownership concentrates and network usage lags.
