XRP Price Rises 25% As Ripple Clear End More Headwinds

XRP zoomed as Gary Gensler announced step down in January as the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) kept a multi-week bullish trade going.

XRP prices rose 25% in the past 24 hours, with most of the gains in the early Asian hours on Friday, amid widespread belief in a shift toward a crypto-friendly regulatory environment for US-based companies.

XRP is closely related to Ripple Labs, a high-profile payments company that the SEC has targeted since 2020 over allegations it sold the token as a security to US investors. Ripple cleared completely a protracted litigation in 2024, bringing the spotlight back to XRP, an important token that commands a market cap of $77 billion.

The token is now up 65% in the past 7 days and 150% in the past month, data shows, with CoinDesk market analysts targeting a short-term price level of $1.40.

Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory has been positively received by the crypto community due to his previously expressed pro-crypto sentiments. Investors are betting that his administration can promote policies that promote the growth of the crypto industry.

There are also expectations for an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US among some traders amid the perceived relaxed regulatory environment.

This week, XRP along with dogecoin (DOGE) recorded significantly higher trading volumes than usual leader bitcoin on South Korean exchanges in a sign of insane demand.

XRP and US dollar-denominated open interest are above record levels with over 2 billion tokens (worth more than $2 billion at current prices) in futures positions betting on further market volatility.