XRP Community Day 2025 was a testament to the strength, innovation, and global reach of the XRP Ledger ecosystem. Spanning three major regional sessions—EMEA, Americas, and APAC—the event brought together over 250,000 listeners from over 50 countries, demonstrating the depth and diversity of the XRP community.
More than just a showcase of XRPL’s rapid technological advancements, XRP Community Day was about collaboration and connection—bringing together developers, institutions, builders, and holders of the digital asset XRP who are collectively shaping the future of blockchain. Discussions focused on the evolution of XRPL, its expanding adoption across institutional decentralized finance (DeFi), regulatory developments, cross-chain innovation, and the growing impact of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
A key highlight of the virtual event was the three Innovation Spotlights across the different timezones, where the community had the opportunity to hear directly from projects driving real-world utility across DeFi, payments, tokenization, and gaming. Reinforcing how developers and businesses are building practical solutions that leverage XRPL’s efficiency, security and low-cost transactions, featured projects included Credefi, First Ledger, FriiWorld, Santiment, DIA, Band Protocol, Grove, Palisade, xrp.cafe, Crossmark, MeldGold, Zerpmon, Breezepay and many more. These discussions not only highlighted the progress being made across different verticals but also demonstrated the growing adoption of XRPL for scalable and innovative use cases.
EMEA Session: Momentum, Institutional Adoption, and Developer Growth
The event opened with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse hosted by XRPL Commons President David Bchiri, as both reflected on a significant year for XRP and the accelerating role of XRPL in finance:
“I think 2024 will stand out as one of the most monumental years for a number of reasons. The recent U.S. election has had implications for crypto regulation, resetting an uneven playing field. You’re seeing XRP back in the top three market caps as a manifestation of that,” said Garlinghouse.
The discussion also highlighted XRPL’s Automated Market Maker (AMM), which has already processed over $1 billion in swap volume, averaging $17 million per day. The launch of Ripple’s new stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD), which is natively issued on both XRPL and Ethereum, and Ripple Custody securing HSBC as a client, further reinforced XRPL’s institutional credibility.
A major highlight of the session was the announcement that Ondo Finance is bringing tokenized U.S. Treasures to the XRP Ledger. This marks a significant milestone in XRPL’s expanding role in real-world asset tokenization. Ripple SVP Markus Infanger noted that this development underscores XRPL’s ability to support institutional-grade assets with built-in compliance features, low fees, and fast settlement times, further cementing its position as a leading blockchain for regulated financial products.
The EMEA Innovation Spotlight featured leading projects in DeFi, tokenization, and liquidity provision, with speakers from Archax and Zoniqx discussing why institutions are turning to XRPL for compliant financial products. Ripple’s Head of Developer Growth, Christina Chan, outlined the vast ecosystem expansion through grants, accelerator programs, and funding initiatives, emphasizing how XRPL’s community of builders is growing faster than ever.
Listen to the full session here → EMEA Twitter Space
Americas Session: Regulatory Evolution, Cross-Chain Innovation, and the Future of XRPL
The Americas session offered a critical perspective on regulation, featuring Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stu Alderoty, who highlighted the shifting landscape in the U.S. and Ripple’s evolving role within it:
“If you take a giant step back, the fact that Ripple now has a seat at the table, literally and figuratively, with major players in the U.S. crypto industry, is a seismic shift from where we were,” Alderoty noted.
He emphasized that Ripple is now actively shaping U.S. regulatory policy:
“Ripple is not only recognized as a leader in the space, but also as a thought leader. Our views are being solicited by the new administration and policymakers, who I have full confidence will now set practical laws and regulations that allow the crypto industry to thrive. The U.S. can become the crypto capital of the world.”
The session also explored XRPL’s advancements in cross-chain interoperability, featuring David Schwartz, Axelar, Cosmos, Peersyst, XRPL Labs, and Sologenic, discussing how XRPL’s EVM Sidechain and bridges are making it easier for developers to expand multi-chain applications, connecting XRPL to the broader DeFi ecosystem.
Listen to the full session here → Americas Twitter Space
APAC Session: XRPL’s Expansion in Asia and the Road Ahead
The final session of the event in APAC reinforced XRPL’s growing presence in Asia, one of the fastest-growing blockchain markets.
Ripple President Monica Long, who opened the APAC session, reflected on crypto’s exponential growth and Ripple’s leadership in enabling institutional adoption:
“When I joined Ripple in 2013, the entire crypto market cap was below $2 billion, and we’ve now 1000x that. I’m so happy with the position Ripple is in as we see this tidal wave—this explosion of opportunity—with serious financial institutions entering the blockchain space. We’re well positioned to be a one-stop shop and infrastructure provider for those institutions to tokenize, store, exchange, and move value.”
Long also highlighted the success of RLUSD, Ripple’s enterprise-grade USD stablecoin, which launched in December 2024 and has already crossed the $100 million market cap mark:
“We see such a huge opportunity for stablecoins. The next wave of growth will come from utility, which is the heartbeat of where we see RLUSD working.”
The APAC Innovation Spotlight continued to showcase projects building in gaming, tokenization, and DeFi, demonstrating how developers in the region are driving high-value use cases on XRPL.
The event concluded with a fireside chat featuring David Schwartz, who shared insights into Ripple’s roadmap for XRPL development in 2025, including programmability updates, lending protocols, and infrastructure enhancements to support new decentralized applications.
Schwartz emphasized that the future of DeFi adoption will be driven by its ability to integrate with existing financial systems:
"What’s super exciting to me is the adoption of DeFi by millions of people. For that to happen, there needs to be connections to existing financial systems and products. We cannot build an entirely new ecosystem without leveraging the rest of the financial world—where people get paid, where they pay their phone bills, their rent. That’s where people’s money is going to come from, and institutions are going to have to be part of the bridge to bring retail into this space."
He pointed to stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) as two of the most promising avenues for this integration. While stablecoins like RLUSD are already serving as a bridge between traditional and decentralized finance, the next step will be the large-scale tokenization of traditional assets, such as stocks and bonds for example, creating deep, liquid markets that combine the strengths of institutional finance with the openness of DeFi.
This vision- where DeFi’s innovation meets the security, compliance, and scalability required by institutions reinforces XRPL’s role as a critical layer for the next evolution of financial markets. As regulatory clarity improves and adoption accelerates, XRPL is poised to be a key infrastructure for this transformation.
Listen to the full session here → APAC Twitter Space
Looking Ahead: A Defining Year for XRPL
XRP Community Day 2025 reaffirmed that XRPL is more than just a blockchain—it’s a community-driven movement shaping the future of decentralized finance and tokenization. The incredible community hosts covering the different topics deserve a special mention and a huge thank you for their contributions to the event!
As Ripple, developers, institutions, and ecosystem builders continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on XRPL, the energy and collaboration witnessed during the event signal a promising and impactful year ahead.
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