Can XRP Price Hit $4 As Ripple Boosts XRPL With Q1 Gains & New Acquisitions?

XRP price has been on the investors’ radar as Ripple improves the XRP Ledger through careful acquisitions and increased use. With XRP price at $2.43 and its share of the market remaining unchanged, users are curious if it is ready to go up to $4. The purchase of Hidden Road and a surge in on-chain activity are contributing to this excitement.

Ripple’s Q1 Developments Fuel Institutional Momentum?

Over the last year, Ripple took crucial steps that could help XRP price growth and the XRP Ledger (XRPL) expand. Hidden Road, a worldwide prime broker, was purchased by Ripple, according to Messari’s recent report for Q1.

According to the company, this will help XRPL work better with institutions and strengthen its DeFi activities. With this purchase, Ripple can support more institutional customers looking to use digital assets.

The Messari report also noted an increase in XRPL network usage during Q1. Daily active addresses on the XRPL rose by 142%, while average daily volume on the Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) increased by 74%.

Additionally, the stablecoin RLUSD saw its market capitalization on XRPL surge by 304% during the same period. These metrics reflect a growing demand for transactions and services on the XRP Ledger.

As a result of these changes, XRP price remains among the most discussed amid the recent soaring interest in the crypto market. Analyst Egrag Crypto stated that XRP is “still holding strong” in the face of legal and regulatory uncertainty. This resilience adds to expectations that new use cases and institutional involvement could support further price growth.

XRP-Spot ETF Reviews Delayed by SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decisions on multiple XRP-spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings. This includes the Grayscale XRP Trust conversion and proposals by 21Shares, Bitwise, WisdomTree, and Canary Funds.

These delays have caused concern among some investors about the future of XRP ETFs in the near term, which has also weighed on the XRP price performance.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart explained that delays are expected. “The SEC typically takes the full time to respond to a 19b-4 filing,” he said. Seyffart added that final decisions may not come until the fourth quarter of 2025. Despite hopes for earlier approvals, he stated that decisions before October would be unusual.

Legal uncertainty continues to weigh on XRP’s performance. On May 15, Judge Analisa Torres rejected the SEC’s request for an indicative ruling on lifting an injunction on institutional XRP sales. If a second filing is also rejected, Ripple may pursue a cross-appeal. This could further extend the timeline for resolving XRP’s legal status and influence ETF approvals.

XRP’s price has responded to these developments with caution. On May 20, the token dropped 1%, despite broader gains in the crypto market. It closed at $2.3566 after a 2.01% fall the day before. It was trading at $2.43 at the time of writing, up by 3.96%.

The overall market rose 4.3%, pushing total market capitalization to $3.5 trillion. XRP’s near-term price is expected to remain sensitive to legal updates and ETF-related news.

Market Volatility and Long-Term Price Scenarios

XRP’s trading activity has shown mixed signals in recent days. According to market data, XRP’s overall trading volume had dropped by 12.47% the previous day, suggesting a short-term cooldown. At the time of writing it was up by 43.32%.

Moreover, derivatives data revealed that options volume rose by over 158%, signaling traders’ expectations of large price movements ahead. Long positions among top traders on Binance and OKX indicate some market participants are anticipating upward price action.

In spite of short declines, XRP price kept a market dominance of over 4% all the way through 2025. After it reached $3.39 in January, XRP’s share of the market peaked at 5.58%, then decreased as the broader market also went down.

Towards May end, XRP had a 4.55% share of the crypto market, which remains high given how much the total crypto market is worth.

If the global crypto market capitalization reaches $40 trillion, as some analysts predict, XRP could see a substantial price increase. At 4.55% dominance and a circulating supply projected to reach 65 billion tokens, XRP’s market capitalization would be $1.82 trillion. This scenario would place the token’s price at around $28.

Currently, XRP is approaching its next price goal of $3, since it is facing resistance at $2.6553. If prices rise above this point, it could open the way for the market to go toward $3.

The area at $2.30 could work as support for prices if they fall further. Should Ripple continue to succeed and crypto regulations advance, XRP may come close to $4 by the end of this year.