XRP soared to become the third most valuable cryptocurrency in the world when it hit $2.48 on Monday — its highest price in six years.
While it’s still off its 2018 high of $3.40, Arthur Azizov, CEO of crypto payment platform for businesses, B2BinPay, told Forbes that many factors suggest the cryptocurrency issued by US blockchain company Ripple may eclipse that record.
Trump’s victory
Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election November 5 is chief among those reasons, Azizov said.
The Republican candidate’s victory sparked the return of bullish enthusiasm in the crypto market as investors bet the president-elect will fulfill pro-crypto promises. Crypto’s market size has skyrocketed 42% to $3.5 trillion since the election.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said Trump will “make crypto great again.”
Garlinghouse has reason to be so bullish. XRP is up fivefold since November 5, beating the percentage gains of bigger-name crypto rivals Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
Trading frenzy
XRP’s price bump has also come amid a trading frenzy, which coincided with Robinhood relisting XRP on its platform last month.
The retail trading app delisted XRP after it came under regulatory scrutiny in 2020 when the US Securities and Exchange Commission indicted Ripple for allegedly breaking securities laws by selling the cryptocurrency. In August, a US judge fined Ripple $125 million. For his part, Garlinghouse called the ruling a victory for the company.
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Ki Young Ju, CEO of crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant, said Coinbase whales are driving the XRP rally.
Young Ju said furious XRP trading activity on Coinbase has caused a price premium to emerge for the cryptocurrency when compared to more retail-focused platforms such as Upbit.
Data from crypto analytics platform Scopescan indicates South Korean retail investors are also contributing to XRP’s price surge.
XRP trading on the Asian country’s exchanges including Upbit and Bithumb has eclipsed Bitcoin in the last 24 hours.
Gary Gensler
The resignation of SEC Chair Gary Gensler also is cited as a reason for the jump in XRP’s price.
Gensler’s tenure was marked by a hostile stance towards the crypto industry. And his departure on January 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration, is seen by many as being a positive sign for Ripple.
XRP’s growth has been stifled by Ripple’s long legal battle with the agency. Azizov told Forbes that, with Gensler leaving, there’s a chance that that fight might be coming to an end, which could unlock even more growth for the cryptocurrency.
Altcoin rotation
Bitcoin surged close to $100,000 on the strength of Trump’s victory.
At the same time, Bitcoin’s dominance, the ratio of its market size to the value of the entire crypto market, has dropped from 60% to 53% in the last week.
Historically, falling Bitcoin dominance amid an increase in crypto market value usually signals the start of an altcoin season where attention shifts to other cryptocurrencies like XRP, crypto research outfit 10x Research said in a post last week.
XRP ETFs
Following the success of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds this year, Solana and XRP are competing to be the next cryptocurrency to get ETFs approved.
Garlinghouse himself has said that he believes an XRP ETF is “inevitable.”
Bitwise Asset Management, Canary Capital, 21Shares, and WisdomTree have already submitted XRP spot-ETF filings with the SEC.
If XRP ETFs are approved, it could push the price higher, according to André Dragosch, Bitwise Europe’s research chief, in a research note last week.
With Trump taking office next year, market analysts predict the path towards more crypto ETFs could become easier.
That’s especially if Trump picks a pro-crypto person to head the SEC.
Correction, December 2: An earlier version of this article referred to B2BinPay as a crypto exchange. It is in fact a crypto payment platform for businesses.
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. To share tips or information about stories, please contact him at [email protected].
