XRP came within two cents of its all-time high price mark—set seven years ago—earlier Thursday in a close call that punctuated a weekly surge in value for the Ripple-linked asset.
The cryptocurrency peaked at $3.38 on Thursday, per data from CoinGecko, coming within 1% of the all-time mark of $3.40 set in January 2018. XRP has since retreated to $3.30, still up 10% over the last 24 hours.
Over the last week, XRP has spiked by 45%, skyrocketing again after putting up monstrous gains in November and December. XRP has now jumped by 560% since Election Day on November 5, when pro-crypto Republican candidate Donald Trump locked up a second term in the White House. He will be sworn in on Monday.
Anticipation over Trump's incoming administration is surely adding fuel to the XRP fire. There's growing optimism that XRP ETFs will be approved for trading in the U.S. under Trump's SEC, following years of legal battles between Ripple and the current SEC regime led by Chair Gary Gensler.
Even with the upcoming shakeup at the regulator, the SEC has refused to back down from its lawsuit against Ripple. On Wednesday, the SEC filed its opening brief in its appeal of a verdict that partially favored Ripple, with the agency seeking a reversal of the court's previous classification of XRP.
Last week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty met with Trump, with Garlinghouse sharing a photo of the three men via X (formerly Twitter).
“Strong start to 2025,” Garlinghouse wrote.
The message applies just as much to XRP's gains so far in 2025.