Ripple had one of its busiest weeks in months, rolling out regulatory, institutional, and tokenization developments even as XRP’s price struggled alongside the broader crypto market.
Key Takeaways
Ripple locked in key EU and UK regulatory approvals, expanding its regulated footprint across Europe.
Institutional activity picked up with new brokerage support and large-scale real-world asset tokenization on XRPL.
RLUSD supply and liquidity continued to grow, with new mints, a Binance listing, and a planned Japan launch.
XRP price weakened despite ETF inflows, sliding toward the $1.50 support amid market-wide sell-offs.
At the start of the week, Ripple secured full approval for an Electronic Money Institution license from Luxembourg’s CSSF, giving the company the green light to offer regulated payment services across all 27 EU member states.
The approval builds on Ripple’s January milestone in the UK, where it obtained both an EMI license and cryptoasset registration from the FCA, allowing it to operate directly out of London’s financial district. Together, the EU and UK licenses significantly expand Ripple’s regulated footprint in two of the world’s most important financial hubs.
Institutional expansion and real-world tokenization
Ripple’s institutional arm also made moves this week. Ripple Prime announced support for Hyperliquid, opening the door for institutional clients to access on-chain derivatives liquidity within a single brokerage framework.
At the same time, Ripple partnered with Billiton Diamond and Ctrl Alt to tokenize more than $280 million worth of certified polished diamonds from the UAE on the XRPL. The initiative relies on Ripple’s enterprise custody infrastructure to track provenance and ownership history, although secondary market trading is still pending final regulatory clearance.
The deal highlights Ripple’s growing focus on real-world asset tokenization beyond traditional payments.
Stablecoin growth, ETFs, and market pressure on XRP
On the stablecoin front, RLUSD’s circulating supply climbed to around $1.39 billion after a fresh mint aimed at meeting rising institutional demand for real-time settlement. Ripple is also working with SBI on plans to distribute RLUSD in Japan in early 2026, targeting enterprise use cases.
Liquidity received another boost in late January when Binance listed RLUSD against USDT and XRP.
Meanwhile, XRP-related exchange-traded funds have now attracted more than $1.37 billion in net inflows since their late-2025 launch, with issuers including Canary Capital, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, and 21Shares. Despite the institutional momentum, XRP has been under pressure, testing a key support level around $1.50 after falling nearly 20% over the past week amid heavy liquidations and a broader market sell-off. Additionally Bank of America revealed a new filling showing exposure to XRP ETFs.
Conclusion
Looking ahead, Ripple is set to host XRP Community Day on February 11–12, with leadership including CEO Brad Garlinghouse expected to outline strategic priorities and discuss wrapped asset developments. The event comes at a moment when Ripple’s regulatory and enterprise progress is accelerating, even as short-term price action for XRP remains under strain.
