How much has XRP's institutional position changed since the SEC case?

The full answer

SEC v. Ripple was the US securities regulator’s case against Ripple Labs over its sales of XRP.[1] This page lists what has changed for institutions since the court’s rulings. It then sets those changes against the evidence on ledger use. Use is the harder test.

What did the court case settle, and what did it leave?

On July 13, 2023 the court held that Ripple’s Institutional Sales of XRP “constituted the unregistered offer and sale of investment contracts,” while its Programmatic Sales “did not constitute the offer and sale of investment contracts.”[1] The court entered final judgment on August 7, 2024, enjoining Ripple from violating Section 5 and ordering a civil penalty of $125,035,150.[2] On August 7, 2025 the SEC filed a joint stipulation dismissing its appeal and Ripple’s cross-appeal. That resolved the case. The final judgment and injunction stayed in place.[3]

Which milestones followed from the court ruling and which from later policy changes?

The table below lists the milestones in date order. Most came after the OCC and the SEC changed their positions in 2025 and 2026.[4][5][6] The dates show the order. The right-hand column, which links each milestone to a cause, is my own interpretation.

Read against those dates, the 2023 ruling’s main contribution was the finding on Programmatic Sales, and the fund and banking milestones after March 2025 line up with changes at the OCC and the SEC. A comparison with how fast bitcoin went through the same steps is on the page about whether XRP is being institutionalized faster than bitcoin.

How much XRP do regulated funds now hold?

Five US spot XRP ETFs held about 906.8 million XRP at June 30, 2026, summing their SEC quarterly filings.[12] Bitwise’s fund page reported 413,140,980.47 XRP in its trust as of September 27, 2026.[13] Blockworks counted $253.6 million of net inflows into XRP funds worldwide in the second quarter of 2026, a third straight positive quarter.[21] These holdings measure ownership. They say nothing about activity on the ledger. The page on how much XRP institutions hold and put to work breaks the figures down further.

What changed on the banking and custody side?

The OCC conditionally approved a national trust bank charter for Ripple National Trust Bank on December 12, 2025.[14] The OCC’s letter says the bank may not begin business “until all preopening requirements are met.”[15] A search of OCC releases on September 28, 2026 found no final approval. The page asking whether Ripple is becoming a bank follows the status.

Ripple says RLUSD’s issuer, Standard Custody, is chartered and supervised by the New York Department of Financial Services as a limited purpose trust company.[16] Ripple announced on October 24, 2025 that its purchase of Hidden Road was complete and that Hidden Road is now Ripple Prime.[17] In April 2026 Ripple named BBVA, DBS Bank, DZ Bank and Intesa Sanpaolo as users of Ripple Custody.[18]

What has not changed?

Ledger use has not. Blockworks, in a report Ripple commissioned, put XRP Ledger payment volume at 41.07 billion XRP in the second quarter of 2026. Its summary calls that “nearly unchanged YoY and down 26.6% QoQ,” while its network section says “down 26.6% QoQ and 4.3% YoY.”[21] Average daily active addresses fell 10.7% on the quarter, DEX spot volume fell 35.9%, and XRP’s price fell 19.9% to $1.04.[21]

Size at Ripple does not translate directly into XRP demand either. Writing about the $3 trillion Ripple Prime has cleared, crypto.news concluded on July 8, 2026 that the part reaching XRP “is small enough that no serious estimate puts a meaningful number on it.”[22]

Native lending is also not live: at 19:47 UTC on September 29, 2026, the xrpldashboard tracker counted 15 of 35 validators voting for the LendingProtocol amendment, with 29 needed.[20]

How durable are the regulatory gains?

They are less durable than a statute. Bitwise’s own September 2026 filing says the SEC’s March 2026 release “does not have the force and effect of law” and “is not binding on courts or other regulatory authorities.”[7] Troutman Pepper Locke noted on September 25, 2026 that future administrations “could revise or withdraw rules and interpretations.”[8] The page on what is still unresolved now that the lawsuit is over covers those risks, and the page on whether XRP Ledger announcements are becoming live products tracks what has and has not shipped. The opposing reading, that money is going into infrastructure faster than demand, is laid out on the page asking whether money is going into XRP infrastructure ahead of real demand.