Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service recorded a sharp spike in activity in 2025, underscoring the growing role of XRP in global payments infrastructure. While some market commentary has conflated figures, available data shows that RippleNet’s ODL processed about US$1.3 trillion in cross-border transactions in Q2 2025 alone, not as a cumulative total. By contrast, multiple industry sources estimate total ODL volume at roughly US$95 billion as of December 2025, highlighting how exceptional the second-quarter surge was.
ODL uses XRP as a bridge asset to enable instant, low-cost international settlements, positioning it as a direct competitor to legacy systems such as SWIFT. Transactions typically settle within three to five seconds, compared with the 36 to 96 hours often associated with traditional correspondent banking. Fees on the XRP Ledger are also minimal, averaging around US$0.0004 per transaction, a cost advantage that has become increasingly attractive to banks and payment providers under pressure to reduce settlement friction.
Institutional adoption has continued to expand, with more than 300 financial institutions now connected to RippleNet. Major players such as Santander and Japan’s SBI Holdings are among those using or piloting ODL-enabled services, reflecting a broader shift by incumbents toward blockchain-based settlement rails.
Regulatory clarity has also played a critical role in accelerating adoption. An August 2025 ruling in the United States, which classified XRP as a commodity in secondary markets, removed a key overhang for institutional investors. The decision helped pave the way for new investment products, including exchange-traded funds linked to XRP. One such product, the Evolve XRP CAD Unhedged ETF, was trading around CA$8.20 as of 31 December 2025, though it remained sharply lower from its mid-year highs, reflecting broader crypto market volatility.
Taken together, the data suggests that Ripple’s ODL network is moving beyond pilot-stage experimentation into periods of meaningful scale, even if quarterly spikes should not be mistaken for long-term cumulative totals. As regulatory frameworks mature and institutional participation deepens, XRP’s role as a settlement bridge asset is likely to remain a central theme in the evolution of cross-border payments.
Ripple-backed Evernorth faces US$220m unrealised loss as XRP price slides
