Ripple’s Global Push Meets a Senate Deadline as XRP Stalls at $1.37

Ripple's operational wins in Dubai, Seoul, and Brazil contrast with XRP's 26% decline, as RLUSD stablecoin sidelines the token and SEC scrutiny delays leveraged ETFs.

The contrast between Ripple’s operational momentum and XRP’s market performance has rarely been starker. While the company plants flags in Dubai, Seoul, and São Paulo, the token is stuck at $1.37 — down roughly 26% since the start of the year. The disconnect is forcing investors to look past the headlines and focus on the regulatory calendar in Washington.

A Stablecoin That Sidelines XRP

Ripple’s dealmaking machine has been running hot, but the engine is powered by its own stablecoin, RLUSD, not the native token. The billion-dollar processing partnership with Convera, the integration with Deutsche Bank, and the new collaboration with South Korea’s Kbank all rely on RLUSD for cross-border settlements. XRP is left on the sidelines.

The structural problem runs deeper. Some 82% of RLUSD tokens currently reside on the Ethereum blockchain, not the XRP Ledger. The anticipated migration of the stablecoin to Ripple’s own chain has yet to materialize, depriving XRP of the transactional utility that would naturally boost demand. Meanwhile, the crypto exchange OKX recently listed RLUSD across hundreds of trading pairs — a boost for the stablecoin ecosystem, but one that generates no direct buying pressure for XRP.

From Dubai to Brazil: Infrastructure Expands

On May 1, Ripple opened a new regional headquarters in the Dubai International Financial Centre, with plans to double its local team. The Middle East already accounts for a fifth of the company’s global client base. That expansion is complemented by concrete institutional adoption elsewhere. Brazil’s foreign exchange bank Braza is now settling transactions at scale directly on the XRP Ledger. In South Korea, Kbank is deploying Ripple’s custody solution to build wallet infrastructure for institutional clients.

These operational wins are not yet translating into price action. The leverage ratio for XRP on Binance hit an all-time low of 0.152 in early May, which analysts interpret as a healthier market structure — less speculative froth, but also less immediate upward momentum. Large holders have been voting with their feet: over two consecutive days, whales moved roughly 56% of the daily XRP trading volume off Binance and into private wallets, effectively tightening the available supply on exchanges.

ETFs: Record Flows, Delayed Products

The product side tells a mixed story. Spot ETFs for XRP, classified as a digital commodity, attracted record inflows of nearly $82 million in April. Issuers including Bitwise and Franklin Templeton are seeing solid demand. But leveraged products are hitting regulatory headwinds. GraniteShares has delayed the launch of its triple-leveraged XRP ETFs for a fifth time, now targeting May 7. The SEC remains uneasy about the token’s extreme volatility — XRP’s annualized swings have topped 95% in recent years.

The Senate Clock Is Ticking

All roads lead back to Washington. The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote in May on the CLARITY Act, legislation that would permanently enshrine XRP’s commodity status. No exact date has been set, and the Senate goes into recess on May 21. If the markup process doesn’t happen this month, the bill could face a years-long delay — a scenario that would keep big institutional money on the sidelines.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has flagged the narrow window. A roundtable hosted by the SEC on May 3 could offer early clues about a resolution. Without legal certainty, the gap between Ripple’s global ambitions and XRP’s price stagnation is likely to persist.