The excitement surrounding Ripple and XRP has been growing since Donald Trump became President-elect in November, signaling a potentially favorable administration for crypto assets.
That excitement crescendoed last week as XRP came within pennies of breaking its all-time high price record from 2018, pushing Ripple’s stash of the asset to a staggering sum amid other notable happenings around the crypto company.
Here’s what you need to know from a wild week for Ripple and XRP.
XRP nears all-time high
XRP traded around $0.50 in the days leading up to the U.S. elections in November. Since that time the token has grown by more than 500% to a current price of $3.15, all while becoming the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, overtaking stablecoin Tether in the process.
Thanks to the surge, the token nearly set a new all-time high, peaking at $3.38 on January 16, just $0.02 shy of its all-time high of $3.40 set in 2018 per data from CoinGecko.
XRP Nearly Sets New All-Time High Price After 45% Spike
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 a...
Up more than 25% on the week as of this writing, XRP has greatly outperformed its major crypto peers like Bitcoin and Ethereum—though Solana is now showing much larger weekly gains thanks to momentum around Trump’s official meme coin launch.
ETF optimism grows
Some of the demand for XRP can be attributed to the growing optimism about an approval of an XRP ETF. Last week, a report from researchers at JP Morgan indicated that if approved, an XRP ETF could expect to pull in billions of dollars from investors.
Solana and XRP ETFs Could Attract Billions, But Will Fall Short of Bitcoin: JP Morgan
The success of the Bitcoin ETFs—launched this time last year—was unprecedented. And there’s a market for more crypto funds, according to analysts at America’s biggest bank, though that level of prosperity will be difficult to duplicate. In a Monday report, a team of researchers at JP Morgan said that Solana and XRP ETFs could respectively pull in billions of dollars’ worth of cash from investors. Still, vehicles for top altcoins would still fall well short of Bitcoin exchange-traded products o...
This report piggybacks on recent comments from Ripple Labs president Monica Long, who suggested that she thinks an XRP ETF will be approved “very soon.”
Ripple’s holdings skyrocket
The major price appreciation in XRP has bolstered Ripple’s holdings tremendously, increasing by about $115 billion since election day at the current price
Based on its most recent financial disclosures, the firm holds around 4.44 billion XRP, and controls another 39 billion XRP in escrow—a collective amount now worth $136 billion at the token’s current price. At the time of the election, this amount was worth approximately $21 billion.
Ripple’s XRP Holdings Have Gained $125 Billion in Value Since Trump’s Election
Ripple’s total holdings of XRP have exploded in value by some $125 billion since election day. That remarkable statistic underscores the degree to which American crypto firms have benefited from Donald Trump’s re-election—and offers one explanation as to why they have so enthusiastically thrown their support behind the president-elect’s incoming administration. According to Ripple’s most recent financial disclosures, the company holds some 4.44 billion XRP in liquid assets. It also oversees nea...
During the election, Ripple and other notable crypto firms like Coinbase helped spearhead a $300 million super PAC in an attempt to improve the regulatory environment for crypto in the United States. So far, that bet appears to be paying off handsomely.
Meme coins surge
After a brief spike in early December, meme coin activity on the XRP Ledger had largely gone silent until activity soared once more last week.
The activity was led by ARMY, a meme coin based on the enthusiastic supporters of the Ripple-linked asset, which jumped to a new all-time high around a $107 million market cap. Though the token has since pulled back to around a $67 million market cap, it still leads other XRP meme coins in trading volume, which has grown when compared to the December rush.
XRP Hits 7-Year High Price as XRP Ledger Meme Coins Surge Again
XRP is up 15% in the last 24 hours, reaching a price not held since 2018 as trading volumes and meme coin prices on the XRP Ledger both surge higher. The Ripple-linked XRP has significantly outperformed other major crypto assets in the last week, gaining by 28% in that time and rising to the third overall cryptocurrency ranked by market cap. It rose as high as $2.99, a seven-year high for the coin, though it has since dipped to $2.95. The move comes amid rising optimism about the approval of X...
Thanks in part to the meme coin trading activity, the XRP Ledger saw its highest mark of active accounts since December 6, breaching 63,000 on January 16 according to data from XRP Scan.
SEC not giving up
Though a more friendly regulatory environment might be around the corner, the current SEC administration is not yielding in its lengthy battle with Ripple.
This week, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty noted that despite asking for the SEC to postpone its opening brief in an appeal against a ruling that favored Ripple, the enforcement agency refused. On Wednesday, the SEC filed the brief, asking the court for a reclassification of the security status of XRP.
SEC Appeals Ripple Ruling, Seeks Reversal on XRP Classification
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has formally filed an appeal in its legal battle with Ripple Labs, challenging a July 2023 ruling that partially dismissed claims against the company. Filed late Wednesday, the appeal focuses on whether Ripple’s XRP sales to retail investors qualify as unregistered securities transactions under federal law. Citing the Howey Test, the SEC argues that Ripple’s promotional efforts created an expectation of profits among investors, making XRP an investmen...
“What a waste of time and taxpayer dollars,” he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Despite the frustration, Adelroty remains confident in Ripple’s position, indicating he looks forward to working with the new SEC leadership to resolve the matter.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
