XRP Weekly Newsletter #3

Hello. As we approach July and the second half of 2025 all the stars seem to be aligning for XRP. The SEC legal case is coming to a close after almost 5 years, regulation is moving ahead nicely, the partnerships are in place and the technology is ready. All we are waiting for is the catalyst that will give the powers that be the excuse to move us into the new financial system [problem, reaction, solution]. In terms of price, the XRP chart is poised for take off; in terms of the astrology, the XRP chart is looking good for XRP with Jupiter in Cancer and Uranus moving into Gemini in July. In terms of the fundamentals it seems to me that we are waiting on news on the ETF’s, regulation to be passed and big announcements from institutions utilising XRP. So with this all in mind I believe August will see the biggest moves in the XRP price. However, this is crypto and anything could happen.

SEC v Ripple Case: Last week we witnessed dramatic developments in the SEC v Ripple case. First on Wednesday we saw Judge Torres deny Ripple’s and the SEC’s request to dissolve the injunction against Ripple selling XRP to institutions and reduce the fine payable by Ripple to the SEC from $125 million to $50 million. Then 24 hours later in response we saw Ripple drop their appeal against the injunction with the SEC expected to follow suit as they had already stated they would drop their appeal as well. So what does this all mean? The important thing to remember is that the main thing is that XRP has already been designated not to be a security in July 2023 and the injunction only refers to historic institutional sales of XRP by Ripple, meaning going forward they have to sell XRP to institutions in a different way i.e. via the secondary market (exchanges) or they have to register sales they make directly to institutions. Therefore, in reality this doesn’t affect anything that much as there are many ways Ripple can work around the issue of selling XRP to institutions. Long story short is that it seems that after nearly 5 years finally this lawsuit can be put to bed, Ripple can pay the fine and get on with rolling out the internet of value.

Regulation: The Genius Act (stablecoin regulation) passed the Senate vote and is now with the House of Representatives (Congress) where it will need to be reconciled with the House’s similar but not identical Stable Act. Once reconciled it will be sent to the President for signature. There is also the Clarity Act which seeks to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets and delineate the responsibilities between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The legislation requires crypto platforms to be regulated as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act, significantly elevating compliance obligations for many businesses. It also includes specific provisions for decentralised finance (DeFi) operations, excluding certain DeFi operations and wallet providers from SEC oversight, potentially reducing regulatory burden for these business models. Additionally, the bill prohibits regulators from requiring custody companies to hold clients’ assets on their own balance sheets, addressing a contentious issue that has concerned many crypto service providers. Once all these Acts are finalised and passed we will have a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework in place for crypto in the US and obviously this is important as the biggest economy in the world which is promising to lead the world on digital assets is very important. A million miles from where we were under the Biden administration only a short 6 months ago. In terms of timings, I’m not sure when this will all be signed into law by Trump, but I am hopeful it will be this year, paving the way for institutions to adopt the technology.

Federal Reserve Not withstanding all the above news on pending regulation the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week that "banks are free to conduct crypto activities." So all we need now is for Jerome Powell to stop playing politics and actually reduce interest rates as Trump has been pressing him to do and the crypto market will take off. With the official figures showing that inflation is where it should be, at around 2%, there is no reason why interest rates should remain so high at 4.5%.

Institutional adoption continues at pace with AEON announcing a strategic partnership with Ripple to integrate XRP and RLUSD into its payment system. According to the press release, AEON Pay users can use XRP and RLUSD for everyday purchases, from grabbing coffee and fast food at Starbucks, McDonald’s, or Pizza Hut, to shopping at retailers like UNIQLO, crypto is becoming just as spendable as cash. There’s more. The partnership plans to extend into Africa, Latin America, and other emerging markets to position Ripple’s ecosystem as a global payment backbone.

Arthur Britto - the joint architect of the XRPL - who has remained a mysterious and secretive figure, returned to social media after 14 years of silence prompting many to speculate that something big is about to happen with XRP. All he posted on X was an emoji face without a nose or mouth. Many were speculating that this could mean some of the 1700 contracts institutions hold with Ripple that are under NDAs are about to become public.

10 use cases for stablecoins and why they are they so important? 

1) On / Off ramping: Stablecoins offer a means to bridge traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralised finance (DeFi) with the ability to interact with cryptocurrencies.

2) Stablecoins are pegged to a unit of currency such as the US dollar ensuring a stable price, essential for institutions to mitigate risk in volatile crytpocurrency markets.

3) In countries with unstable local currencies, stablecoins offer a reliable store of value. Dollar-backed stablecoins like USDT, USDC and RLUSD help individuals and businesses preserve capital by avoiding the depreciation and inflationary risks associated with local fiat currencies.

4) Financial inclusion: Crypto cards and digital wallets allow users to spend stablecoins like regular money, enabling their use in social commerce and daily expenses. This is particularly impactful in regions with limited access to traditional banking infrastructure and gives access to global currencies like the US dollar.

5) Tokenized lending and asset-backed finance: Emerging projects are exploring the use of stablecoins in conjunction with real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation, allowing individuals to use assets like property or crypto as collateral for loans. This could significantly expand access to credit for underbanked populations.

6) Companies can offer stablecoins to their customers to offer buying incentives and increase loyalty.

7) Businesses will use stablecoins to reduce friction and speed up internal financial processes and remittances e.g. paying suppliers and payroll as it bypasses the reliance on the slow and expensive correspondent banking system.

8) Cross border payments using stablecoins in conjunction with XRP (a neutral bridge currency). Currently the quickest way to send money from one country’s currency (e.g. US dollar) to another country’s currency (GBP) is to fly the cash on a plane. The SWIFT system takes 3-5 days and is expensive with 7% of payments actually failing. With stablecoins and XRP this process will take 3 seconds and cost pennies.

9) The US Treasury Secretary has emphasised the importance of maintaining the US dollar's dominance as a reserve currency and stablecoins are seen as a tool to achieve this hence why we are seeing the US lead in setting international standards and regulation for stablecoins.

10) Stablecoins can be embedded with programmable logic, enabling automated payments, conditional transfers, and seamless integration with decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols. This redefines the functionality of money beyond traditional means.