Key Takeaways
- The price of XRP has skyrocketed over 150% in the last 30 days as the border crypto market is increasingly optimistic about a Trump presidency and a major shift in crypto policies.
- The President-elect has promised to support the sector and appoint a pro-crypto candidate to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bidden-appointed SEC chairman Gary Gensler has announced he will be resigning from his position ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
- Under Gensler’s leadership, the agency has undertaken a stringent anti-crypto regulatory strategy that led to major firms like Ripple facing lawsuits for selling tokens to early investors without registering as securities.
- Despite the recent surge, XRP is expected to face a price consolidation as investors await a final decision on Trump’s crypto policies and the outcome of the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit. There is speculation that the token could hit a market cap of $100 billion if it can maintain its current momentum.
XRP, the native cryptocurrency of the Ripple XRPL blockchain, is enjoying quite the resurgence after surpassing $1.46, grabbing attention across the global crypto community. Several factors are behind the improved market sentiment, led by Donald Trump’s landmark victory in the U.S. Presidential election.
XRP’s Comeback Depends On Trump’s Crypto Policies
During his campaign, the former president promised to embrace the crypto sector and enact friendly policies to support growth and innovation. He also vowed that if elected, he would fire Gary Gensler, the current chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who is considered a public enemy by the crypto community.
Under Gensler’s leadership, the regulator brought lawsuits against leading crypto firms, including Ripple, Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, for selling unregistered securities in the form of specific crypto assets. Industry players have long been calling for establishing concrete regulations that define cryptocurrencies as a different asset class, not falling under commodities or securities.
Ripple has been the biggest victim of the SEC’s “regulation by enforcement” tactic as it has been involved in a four-year-long court case where the financial watchdog accused the firm of selling XRP tokens to early investors without seeking permission.
Gensler announced last week that he will be stepping down from his role as SEC chairman ahead of Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the U.S. on January 20, 2025. This added to the President-elect’s decision to appoint a pro-candidate to the role has resulted in a resurgence in the market, especially in the case of XRP, with investors expecting the lawsuit to come to a swift resolution.
Ripple Price Dips But Experts Predict Market Cap To Hit $100 Billion
Over the past 30 days, XRP has attained an impressive 200% gain in price, making the token one of the best performers in the market. However, the market is starting to cool down from its hype scenario, with short contracts beginning to outpace long positions. Despite the slowdown, Ripple remains well-positioned to move upwards as traders are awaiting clarity on Trump-led regulatory shifts.
Experts predict that at its current growth rate, XRP could reach a market capitalization of $100 billion. The path to this milestone, however, relies on the outcome of Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC.
On the contrary, not everyone is bullish about XRP’s future, with some market analysts suggesting that sentiment on the token is starting to go sour as open interest is falling and bearish contracts are leapfrogging bullish contracts.
XRP is now ranked the sixth-largest cryptocurrency worldwide after its market capitalization soared to more than $80 billion. Late last week, the token gained by 27% and 66% on the daily and weekly charts, respectively. The surge is even more dramatic on the monthly chart, where its price has jumped 174%, moving from $0.5250 to $1.41 in the space of 30 days.
Meanwhile, Ripple has dominated trading activity on South Korean exchanges, even surpassing top dogs like Bitcoin (BTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) in trading volume. Futures trading on XRP also reached record highs, with open interest surpassing $2 billion.
Additionally, there is speculation that ETF issuers could be preparing to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) backed by XRP. If the crypto investment product is approved in the U.S., then Ripple is poised to establish itself as a leading crypto asset.
At the time of writing, Ripple (XRP) is trading at $1.51 – up 4.6% in the last 24 hours.
