XRP's trend is strange! ETF inflow of 660 million, Ripple's acquisition price falls back to 2.5 billion.

Ripple ended its years-long lawsuit with the SEC in March, with a total acquisition amount reaching 2.5 billion USD this year. The first XRP Spot ETF went live in November, with four products attracting over 660 million USD in net inflow in just a few weeks. XRP reached an all-time high of 3.65 USD in July, but subsequently experienced a months-long pullback, with the price reported at 2.06 USD on December 1, down about 5% year-to-date.

Ripple's Best Year Ever: $2.5 Billion Acquisition Frenzy

This year has perhaps brought the most anticipated and significant news for Ripple in March, when its CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced the formal end of the long-standing legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Although it will take several more months for the case to be fully resolved and there have been some obstacles along the way, the fact that the fine Ripple ultimately paid was far lower than the $2 billion initially demanded by the regulators is seen as a victory for Ripple.

This is a critical moment for the company, opening the door to a series of significant initiatives. Just one month after Garlinghouse made that inspiring statement, Ripple announced the acquisition of top brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. A few months later, the platform was renamed Ripple Prime, aiming to provide services to institutional clients. This acquisition propelled Ripple to become an institutional-grade cryptocurrency service provider, directly competing with giants like Coinbase Prime.

Additionally, reports indicate that the company is leading efforts to raise at least $1 billion through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to create a digital asset management (DAT) firm focused on accumulating its own token XRP. Furthermore, the company announced the acquisition of financial software provider GTreasury for $1 billion to strengthen its corporate financing relationships. GTreasury serves over 800 corporate clients globally, and this acquisition opens the door for Ripple into the traditional corporate finance market.

Another major initiative this year is the acquisition of Rail for $200 million, which is a platform aimed at helping businesses transfer funds using stablecoins and fiat currencies with “speed, transparency, and trust.” This acquisition gives Ripple a mature technology and customer base in the stablecoin payment sector.

Ripple Major Milestones Timeline 2025

March: SEC lawsuit officially ends, fines far below the demand of 2 billion dollars.

April: $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road (later renamed Ripple Prime)

July: XRP reached an all-time high of $3.65.

Mid-year: $1 billion acquisition of GTreasury, $200 million acquisition of Rail

November: The first XRP Spot ETF goes live, attracting $660 million in inflows across four products.

XRP Spot ETF Launch: Record Inflows on First Day but Can't Save Coin Price

The conclusion of the lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also signifies a significant improvement in the overall regulatory environment for XRP and its tokens. This was even more evident in November when the first 100% XRP-backed Spot ETF launched in the U.S. Canary Capital's XRPC broke the trading volume record for 2025 on its first day of listing.

In addition, three more XRP ETFs have been launched one after another, and these four products attracted over $660 million in net inflows in just a few weeks. This figure is extremely rare among newly launched cryptocurrency ETFs, indicating that there is indeed a demand from institutional investors for XRP. In contrast, many other cryptocurrency ETFs only saw inflows of tens of millions of dollars within a few weeks of their launch.

However, this institutional-level inflow of funds has not been able to prevent the fall in XRP prices. All of the above developments have occurred in less than a year's time, so people may think that this year will be extremely strong for the underlying asset. After all, the acquisition of Hidden Road alone has been hailed as a “game changer” for XRP, and experts predict that once the lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is resolved and the ETF goes live, the price of XRP will rise significantly.

At least that was true before a certain stage. XRP matched its historical high from 2018 in January 2025, followed by a significant fall in the subsequent months, but soared again in July, breaking that record and reaching a new high of $3.65. From $2.32 at the beginning of the year to $3.65 in July, the increase was 57%, and everything seemed to be going according to plan. Therefore, if this year ends in July, it is undoubtedly a success.

However, the subsequent situation was completely opposite. XRP experienced a pullback lasting several months, with prices once falling below 2 USD. Although it has successfully risen back to that level, the trading price on December 1 was 2.20 USD, which is actually lower than its entry price of 2.32 USD in 2025, a decline of about 5% year-to-date. This divergence of strong fundamentals but weak prices is not uncommon in financial markets, but its intensity remains puzzling.

Buy the rumor, sell the news: Market sentiment drives XRP price

(Source: Yahoo Finance)

So, what is the reason for the fall in XRP prices? Why does its trend not align with the performance of the company behind it — a company that just experienced what can be described as its best year ever? Perhaps the most obvious answer lies in that old saying — buy the rumor, sell the news. XRP started to surge significantly after last year's U.S. election, when people hoped that its home country would introduce new, friendlier regulatory policies.

The internal reforms promised by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission once triggered a wave of increases, but after the lawsuit concluded, the market did not experience significant volatility. After the first batch of ETFs was launched, the price of XRP did not rise, but instead fell. This phenomenon is referred to in financial markets as “disappointment after expectation realization”; when long-anticipated good news finally materializes, the market finds that reality is not as good as imagined, or believes that the good news has already been priced in.

From the perspective of market psychology, the rise of XRP from the end of 2024 to the beginning of 2025 is largely based on expectations for the future: the SEC lawsuit will end, the regulatory environment will improve, ETFs will be approved, and institutional funds will flood in. When these expectations are realized one by one, investors find that prices do not explode as anticipated, and disappointment begins to spread. Additionally, after reaching a high of $3.65 in July, many early buyers began to take profits, creating sustained selling pressure.

Therefore, the fundamentals of XRP do not seem to have any issues. The financial markets, especially the cryptocurrency market, are still highly driven by sentiment and public expectations, making them susceptible to emotional influences. Ripple's $2.5 billion acquisition and $660 million ETF inflow are real fundamental improvements, but these positives require time to translate into actual use demand and revenue growth. The market often lacks patience and tends to turn to other targets with more speculative potential when immediate returns are not seen in the short term.

Another possible reason is supply pressure. Ripple holds a large amount of XRP, and although it has promised to control the pace of sales, the market is always concerned that the company will increase selling when prices rise. Additionally, the token unlocks for early investors and team members may also create ongoing selling pressure. When buying strength is insufficient to absorb this supply, prices naturally come under pressure.

From a broader perspective, the entire cryptocurrency market experienced a pullback in the second half of 2025. Bitcoin fell nearly 30% from its historical high in October, and mainstream cryptocurrencies like Ethereum were generally under pressure. In this macro environment, XRP, as the fourth largest asset by market capitalization, found it difficult to stand out. The overall contraction of market liquidity made it challenging for even positive news to drive prices to continue rising.

Can XRP return to glory in 2026?

Looking ahead to 2026, whether XRP can regain its upward momentum depends on several factors. First is the effectiveness of Ripple's acquisition integration; whether Hidden Road, GTreasury, and Rail can create actual demand and revenue growth for XRP. Secondly, whether the inflow of funds into the XRP ETF can continue; the $660 million is just the beginning, and if it can reach the scale of billions of dollars, the support for the price will be even more significant.

The third is the broader cryptocurrency market environment; if Bitcoin enters a new bull market in 2026, funds will rotate towards mainstream coins, and XRP, as the fourth largest asset by market cap, will significantly benefit. The fourth is the practical application progress of RippleNet in the field of cross-border payments. If it can establish partnerships with more central banks and large financial institutions, the intrinsic value of XRP will be re-recognized by the market.

To rise from the current $2.20 to the historical high of $3.65 requires an increase of about 66%. This target is not technically unattainable; the key lies in whether market sentiment can shift from the current pessimism to optimism, and whether Ripple can translate the improvement in fundamentals into actual financial performance.