XRP’s Huge Week: Almost an All-Time High, ETF Optimism, and SEC vs. Ripple

Excitement surrounding Ripple and XRP has increased since Donald Trump was elected president in November, suggesting a potentially favorable government for crypto assets.

That excitement grew last week when XRP came within pennies away from breaking its all-time high price record set in 2018, sending Ripple’s asset stash to a staggering sum amid other notable events surrounding the crypto company.

Here’s what you need to know from a wild week for Ripple and XRP.

XRP is nearing its all-time high

XRP was trading at around $0.50 in the days leading up to the US election in November. Since then, the token has grown by more than 500% to a current price of $3.15, while also becoming the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, overtaking stablecoin Tether in the process.

Thanks to the surge, the token almost reached a new all-time high, peaking at $3.38 on January 16, just $0.02 below its 2018 all-time high of $3.40, according to data Data from CoinGecko shows.

At the time of writing, XRP is up more than 25% for the week, significantly outperforming its major crypto competitors like Bitcoin and Ethereum – although Solana is now seeing significantly larger weekly gains thanks to the momentum surrounding Trump’s official launch of the meme coin recorded.

ETF optimism is growing

Part of the demand for XRP can be attributed to growing optimism about an XRP ETF being approved. Last week, a report from researchers at JP Morgan suggested that an XRP ETF could expect to raise billions of dollars from investors if approved.

This report is based on recent comments from Ripple Labs President Monica Long, who indicated that she believes an XRP ETF will be approved “very soon.”

Ripple stocks are exploding

The sharp price increase in XRP has boosted Ripple’s holdings tremendously, increasing by about $115 billion at the current price since Election Day

Based on its most recent financial disclosures, the company holds approximately 4.44 billion XRP and controls an additional 39 billion XRP in escrow – a total amount now worth $136 billion at the token’s current price. At the time of the election, this amount was worth around $21 billion.

During the election, Ripple and other big-name crypto firms like Coinbase helped launch a $300 million super PAC to improve the regulatory environment for crypto in the United States. So far, this bet seems to be paying off well.

Meme coins are surging

After a brief spike in early December, meme coin activity on the XRP ledger was largely silent until activity spiked again last week.

The activity was led by ARMY, a meme coin built on the Ripple-linked asset’s enthusiastic supporters, which reached a new all-time high with a market cap of around $107 million. Although the token has since declined to a market cap of around $67 million, it is still ahead of other XRP meme coins in terms of trading volume, which has increased compared to the December rush.

Thanks in part to meme coin trading activity, the XRP Ledger recorded its highest value of active accounts since December 6, surpassing 63,000 on January 16, according to data from XRP Scan.

SEC is not giving up

Even though a friendlier regulatory environment is soon on the horizon, the current SEC administration is not backing down in its protracted battle with Ripple.

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s chief legal officer, noted this week that the law enforcement agency declined to do so despite asking the SEC to delay its opening brief in an appeal of a ruling that favored Ripple. On Wednesday, the SEC filed the brief asking the court to reclassify XRP’s security status.

“What a waste of time and taxpayer money,” he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Despite the frustration, Adelroty remains confident in Ripple’s position and indicates that he looks forward to working with the new SEC leadership to resolve the matter.

Edited by Andrew Hayward