XRP is a cryptocurrency designed to facilitate secure, fast, and cheap cross-border payments. Unlike other crypto assets that primarily focus on decentralization, Ripple Labs, since its founding, has partnered with financial institutions to build an efficient payment network.
Mostly used for fund transfers and on-chain liquidity, Ripple stands out for its direct integration with banks and other TradFi. Thus, Ripple’s XRP offers a solution between blockchain technology and TradFi.
Ripple was founded in 2004 (originally Ripplepay) by Ryan Fugger, a Vancouver-based web developer, as a decentralized digital monetary system.
The founder’s original idea was to make it easy for individuals and communities to develop their own virtual currency. Back then, Fugger envisioned a virtual currency launchpad readily available to all developers.
However, in 2012, the company’s course changed after Jed McCaleb and Chris Larsen took over from Rugger.
With the new investor’s entry, the company was renamed OpenCoin. At the time, it aimed to offer payment services to banks and other businesses.
The idea presented to Fugger by the two sought to create a system of verification based on consensus among participants within the same network, rather than mining, as in the previously launched system.
At the same time, it created its native cryptocurrency, XRP, and renamed OpenCoin to Ripple Labs in 2012. The two built on the concept created by the founder and launched a new payment protocol called the Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP).
In 2012, the team was already deploying its own blockchain to provide exchange services for various currency pairs. At the same time, the blockchain kept account information and all data associated with chain participants.
In 2015, the company adopted the name Ripple, promising to enable secure interbank exchanges. Users verify these transactions in real time through a consensus mechanism.
In 2017, the company went mainstream, launching partnerships with numerous financial institutions, just two years after being licensed.
Since entering the crypto space with the launch of XRP, it has established a global payment network (RippleNet). Designed to replace the global payment system SWIFT, RippleNet facilitates cross-currency exchange.
However, the firms’ and the network’s progress slowed down after the US SEC launched a lawsuit against it. The legal confrontations remained stagnant until 2024, when the court ruled that XRP was not a security.
Thanks to clear legal standing, Ripple is now continuing with its aggressive progress and partnerships. In fact, the firm launched its stablecoin RLUSD recently too. It has since grown significantly – Hitting a $1.5 billion market cap.
Additionally, RLUSD expanded to other chains, including Base, Optimism, Chainlink, Ethereum, and Unichain. Also, Binance integrated the XRP Ledger for RLUSD into its network, allowing zero-fee trading for users.
This progress continued into 2025, with Ripple receiving substantial financial backing. The firm received $500 million in private funding, valuing the company at $40 billion.
These funding rounds saw major institutional investors such as Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities. This underscored Wall Street’s confidence in XRP and in the growth of crypto infrastructure.
A major milestone for XRP came in late 2025 with the launch of Spot XRP ETFs, which provide institutional exposure to XRP. Since then, XRP ETFs have recorded cumulative net inflows of $1.2 billion, with $1.08 billion in net assets.
With TradFi locked through ETFs, Ripple launched its 2026 Roadmap recently too. Its 2026 plans intend to shift XRPL from a simple payment network to institutional-grade decentralized Finance (DeFi). XRPL aims to achieve this DeFi-level status by launching a native DeFi lending protocol (XLS-66).
The protocol will transform XRP from a mere bridge to a yield-generating token that could be attractive to institutions for treasuries.
Even more importantly, XRP’s 2026 roadmap targets cross-chain liquidity, tokenization, smart contracts, and interoperability via ZK proofs.