The post-SEC lawsuit landscape for XRP tells an interesting story: clarity has actually improved on the legal front. The regulatory uncertainty that once clouded XRP's status has visibly diminished—that's progress worth noting.

However, here's what's still missing from the equation: the institutional layer. While legal frameworks have gained ground, the finance industry hasn't yet developed standardized protocols for XRP transactions at scale. Banks and major financial institutions lack clear guidelines for cross-institutional settlement and custody arrangements involving XRP.

In other words, XRP may have won on the regulatory front, but the institutional infrastructure—the boring-but-crucial plumbing that actually makes assets move between institutions—remains an open question. Until financial institutions have concrete operational standards and inter-bank frameworks, broader adoption faces real headwinds. Legal clarity alone doesn't guarantee market adoption; institutional readiness does.