XRP’s price has been one of the hottest topics for discussion amongst the crypto community for a while now and that’s understandable.

After all, it’s an O.G. cryptocurrency that’s here for the past few cycles, but it’s status has been debated at length, especially during Ripple’s legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The outcome of this was long touted as a massive catalyst for XRP’s price and it appears that the dispute has reached a turning point and one that is seemingly in favor of the company.

XRP and the Outcome of the Ripple v. SEC Lawsuit

Just recently, Brad Garlinghouse, took it to social media to share the big news – the Commission quit the pursue of its appeal, essentially putting a de-facto end to the lawsuit – the moment the community was waiting for.

There it was – the massive catalyst everyone was waiting for, so how did the XRP price react? Initially, there was a sruge, but things calmed down almost immediately and the price has since retraced to the levels from before the self-proclaimed victory.

This begs the question – what now? Well, it appears that the market is chasing the next potential catalyst – namely, the approval of spot XRP exchange-traded funds in the US.

XRP ETFs: The Reality

Multiple high-profile asset managers have filed applications for the approval of a spot XRP ETF in the United States, the majority of which are awaiting decision by the end of this year. The list includes, but is not limited to Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Bitwise, Canary Capital, and so forth.

Many industry experts are of the opinion that following Ripple’s de-facto victory in the battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the path to an approval is more or less paved. Why? Well, according to the standing decision of Judge Analisa Torres, XRP sales on the secondary market to regular users do not constitute an investment contract.

But is the approval of an XRP ETF a potential catalyst for a surge in its price? This depends on one major factor – demand.

BTC has seen a massively healthy flow in spot-based ETF products since their inception (with the occasional market-drive exceptions), but that’s because of its nature and widely-accepted status of a digital store of value. Its supply is fairly distributed with no single entity controling a dominant share, which is the absolute opposite for ripple.

XRP’s supply is heavily concentrated and the company behind it – Ripple – controls the market – it’s as simple as that. No locking structures and promises can change the fact that there’s a single centralized entity capable of shifting the market dynamics at any time – something that could be seen as a major deterrent for serious investors even upon the potential approval of a spot XRP ETF.

And while a short-term surge is likely a given, the longer-term impact on ETFs on XRP’s price is far from certain.

Bitcoin’s underwhelming price actions over the weekend continue as the asset plummeted to a multi-day low of $81,600 yesterday before staging a minor recovery.

Many altcoins have produced notable losses over the past week, led by XRP and ETH from the larger caps.

BTC Struggles at $83K

Last weekend went in a dull fashion as BTC’s price was stuck at $84,000. However, it started to gain traction on Sunday evening and pumped to $88,800, which became its highest price tag in over two weeks. As the community was preparing for a charge at $90,000, though, the landscape changed and bitcoin started to lose its momentum.

After a few days of sideways action around $86,000 and $88,000, the cryptocurrency slumped below the lower boundary on Friday and dropped to $83,400. It managed to sustain that level for a bit, but the bears increased the pressure over the past 24 hours.

The result came yesterday evening when BTC dropped to a 12-day low of $81,600 (on Bitstamp). It managed to react well to this Saturday crash and has recovered over a grand, but it’s still in the red on a daily and weekly scale.

Its market capitalization has declined to under $1.630 trillion on CG, while its dominance over the alts is at 59%.

Alts Bleed Out Weekly

Although most alts are quite sluggish on a daily scale, the weekly chart is quite painful. ETH, which was close to $2,100 at one point, is down by over 8% since last Sunday and is well below $1,850 now. XRP has dropped by 9% despite the lawsuit closure against the US SEC.

BNB, SOL, ADA, TRX, LINK, XLM, HBAR, DOT, and LTC have declined by somewhere between 3-7%, while UNI has plunged by more than 11%. The biggest losers, though, are PI and HYPE, as both are down by over 20% in a week.

SUI and TON are among the few exceptions with gains over the past week. TON has risen by nearly 4%, while SUI is up by almost 7%.

The total crypto market cap has slipped below $2.8 trillion, which means that it has lost $200 billion since the peak on Monday.

[PRESS RELEASE – Singapore, Singapore, March 30th, 2025]

MEET48, Mars Protocol, and BNB Chain have officially scheduled “The Mars Audition for Best 3 AI-MEME” – a 72-hour live PK event from April 1 at 15:00 to April 4 at 15:00 (UTC+8). The event will feature eight dedicated livestream rooms for the AI agents (FiveSs, A48Z, WAT2, MAB3, OnlyOne, BZ, Drip, and Hellokiki). Through continuous 72-hour livestreaming across three official channels – YouTube @MEET48Global, X @meet_48, and Binance Live @MEET48 – the AI agents will perform dance routines while allowing real-time interaction and chatting with users. Token rankings will refresh every 5 minutes based on a weighted calculation of price fluctuations, market capitalization, and trading volume during the event – Score = (Market Cap Ranking × 30%) + (Price Increase Ranking × 20%) + (Trading Volume Ranking × 50%). Daily from 19:00-22:00 will be the “Winner Takes All” period, where the Top 1-3 AI Agent livestream rooms will be featured on Mars Protocol’s homepage for enhanced exposure. Throughout the event, mystery guests with millions of followers will make surprise appearances in the livestream rooms.

Following the final determination of the “Strongest MEME Influencer” title in “The Mars Audition for Best 3 AI-MEME with BNB Chain”, substantial rewards will be awarded: The Top 1-3 AI Agents will be admitted into MEET48’s incubation program, receiving MEET48 IDOL token airdrops of 1,000,000, 500,000, and 200,000 respectively. Additionally, the Top 1 AI Agent will secure a collaboration opportunity with popular idols to jointly produce exclusive promotional content, empowering the AI Agent to become a genuine superstar in the real world while gaining global exposure resources and advancing onto the international stage. This comprehensive initiative will ensure the tokens’ market vitality and long-term growth potential.

Notably, MEET48 is introducing the virtual girl group concept for the first time in this competition. The inaugural FiveSs group consists of five AI agents – Suki, Kimmy, Athena, Rachel, and Rinako – whose corresponding real idol group fans will deeply participate in voice training, choreography, and other development aspects of the virtual members through “Cyber Reshaping.” This innovative virtual-physical interaction model continues MEET48’s legacy as a pioneer in idol talent shows – from establishing formats for top variety shows like “Produce 101” and “Youth With You” to now upgrading the 48 Group idol culture into an AI agent arena for the blockchain era, MEET48 consistently remains at the forefront of entertainment industry transformation.

Starting in April, Mars Protocol and MEET48 Dapp will gradually launch live streams for 40 virtual idol groups (2-5 members each) featuring AI Agents, along with 250 solo AI Agents for regular operations. This not only marks Web3’s first matrix-style virtual idol operation but also surpasses the scale of digital human deployments in traditional entertainment.

Following the intense 72-hour PK event, the eight participating AI agents will also appear at two events co-hosted by MEET48 and Mars Protocol during Hong Kong Web3 Festival and ETH Seoul in Korea:

On April 9 from 14:00-17:00, MEET48 will sponsor the Hong Kong Web3 Festival, hosting the “AI <3 AGENT & IP & MEME” sub-venue at Hall 5BCDE, 5/F, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. MEET48 will collaborate with Hashkey Group, Web3 Festival, Hash Global, and Hape to invite the eight prototype idols (Lin Shuqing, Zheng Danni, Jiang Shuting, Wang Ruiqi, Zhang Qiongyu, Hu Xiaohui, Zeng Aijia, and Liu Zengyan) from the two AI-Agent Meme coins FiveSs and MAB3 that participated in Mars Protocol’s 72-hour PK event to deliver spectacular performances. Event registration link: https://lu.ma/meet48_2025HongKong

On April 14 from 18:00-23:00, MEET48 will host “KOL Night in April 2025” at LUMIAR CHUNGDAM in Seoul, Korea. Together with UXLINK and 071Labs, MEET48 will invite the same eight prototype idols from FiveSs and MAB3 along with Korean female artists to perform. Event registration link: https://lu.ma/b5l6de0w

Now that Mars Protocol has officially launched, astute players are already constructing their “wealth avatars” on MEET48.ai. In the Web3 world, only those daring to rewrite the rules can lead this transformation. Seize the opportunity and take your first step – join this wealth storm to co-create success with MEET48 and Mars Protocol, initiating a digital era legend that belongs to everyone.

About MEET48

MEET48 is the world’s first entertainment-focused AI-Agent and AIUGC fan economy ecosystem community, recognized as one of the largest Web3 application project teams globally. With a 500-member technical and R&D team, it operates across Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, and Dubai through a regional network. MEET48 aims to achieve mass adoption of Web3 technology by building an AI UGC content ecosystem centered on AIGC (Animation, IDOL, GAME, and Comics) for Gen Z trendsetting entertainment, combined with a graphical and intelligent metaverse social infrastructure.

MEET48 Official Website: https://www.meet48.xyz/

Twitter (X): https://x.com/meet_48

Telegram: https://t.me/MEET_48

Discord: https://discord.gg/meet48

About Mars Protocol

Mars Protocol, a subsidiary platform of MEET48, is an innovative Meme coin launchpad on the BNB ecosystem dedicated to building a music- and dance-centric creator economy through cutting-edge AI technology and unique incubation mechanisms. It provides an all-in-one Meme coin launch system integrated with AI-generated audio-visual entertainment content, delivering an unparalleled Web3 user experience. The platform also offers incubation opportunities and real buyback policies for outstanding creators.

Mars Protocol Official Website: https://www.2mars.fun/

Twitter (X): https://x.com/MarsProtocolFUN