XRP Price Rises to 3-Year High as Optimism Rises Over SEC Shakeup

As Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler prepares to leave his post, a cryptocurrency targeted under his leadership is on a remarkable rise.

Prominently used by fintech firm Ripple Labs, the price of XRP appeared Thursday when Gensler said he would resign from his leadership position at the agency when President-elect Donald Trump takes control of the White House in January.

As of this writing, XRP’s price has rose 20% over the past 24 hours, with the asset reaching its highest price since May 2021 at $1.49 earlier Friday.

While XRP has been one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization since its launch in 2013, the SEC alleged that the asset is collateral in a lawsuit filed in 2020. Although a federal judge had since reigned that the token “is not necessarily a security on its face,” a sense of regulatory uncertainty continued, with the SEC attractive the decision.

Bitwise senior investment strategist Juan Leon told Decrypt that XRP’s jump in price is rooted in the hope of a favorable regulatory environment under Trump. While the SEC has been chasing Ripple Labs in court for years, a change in leadership could bring new opportunities, depending on whether the SEC decides to drop its four-year lawsuit.

“Ripple Labs, and XRP by extension, has been mired in litigation with the SEC since 2020, which has seriously held back (their associated) business prospects,” he said. “Now, with Gensler on the way out and XRP’s stablecoin launch, investors are embracing a clear roadmap for XRP to fulfill its mission as a B2B blockchain payments network.”

On election day, the price of XRP hovered around $0.50. However, since Trump’s election victory, the cryptocurrency’s price has nearly tripled, becoming one of crypto’s biggest post-election winners.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, meanwhile, has offered Trump camp advice, per New York Times. The outlet reported last week that Garlinghouse has spoken with people close to the president-elect about personnel decisions under Trump’s new administration.

With a change in SEC leadership likely to create a crypto-friendly regime, investor access to XRP has recently expanded in the U.S. Earlier this month, e.g. investment app Robinhood listed the token for trading on its platform.

Last month, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty claimed to Decrypt that Gensler wanted to keep “a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the industry” with his planned appeal. Still, he argued that the SEC’s appeal would likely fail, removing that cloud of uncertainty forever.

While the SEC had sought a $2 billion fine against Ripple for XRP sales, claiming the firm had violated securities laws, a federal judge said. ordered Ripple to pay $125 million fine over XRP in August. The judge found that XRP sales to institutions had violated securities laws, but not programmatic laws that made the token available to retail investors.

Connor McGlaughlin, a YouTube influencer and XRP investor who has dedicated his Mickle Markets channel to boost cryptocurrency, told Decrypt that he believes the coin will rise as fears over its regulatory status fade.

With the SEC’s lawsuit looking more fraught than ever, McGlaughlin — who has posted pro-XRP videos in relation to Gensler in recent days — is seeing renewed optimism among other supporters.

“With the likelihood of a favorable resolution and the potential for a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment under a new administration, confidence in XRP is growing,” he said. “The market is waking up to this potential, which is driving the current excitement and price momentum.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward