Ripple's XRP has seen its price skyrocket since Republican Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential electionâsetting up 2025 to be a huge year for bitcoin and crypto.
XRP, briefly becoming the world's third-largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin and ethereum due to its 400% price rally over the last month, is now approaching its 2017 bull run all-time high after a leak revealed a shock December launch is planned.
Now, as Elon Musk quietly confirms a crypto market game-changer, Wall Street is pushing for Ripple's XRP to win a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), following in the footsteps of bitcoin and ethereum that scored their own spot ETFs this year.
ETF giant WisdomTree has joined Bitwise and Canary Capital in filing to create an XRP spot ETF, with Bank of New York Mellon serving as the administrator for the proposed trust.
The fleet of bitcoin spot ETFs that made their U.S. debut in January have surged to become some of the fastest-growing ETFs of all-time, boosting the bitcoin price and sparking widespread speculation about the potential for future crypto spot ETFs to fuel price gains.
Ripple's XRP had languished through the 2021 bitcoin price and crypto market bull run, failing to make major gains as a result of a long-running legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
That war could now be near its end after Gary Gensler, the SEC chair who brought charges against Ripple for XRP sales that it claims amounted to the sale of unregistered securities, said he will quit the agency in January to make way for a U.S. president-elect Donald Trump appointee.
"XRP was in an accumulation phase for nearly three yearsâaround 900 days. The duration of such a phase often determines the strength of the subsequent rally, so itâs no surprise that from November 4, XRP has surged around 404%," Arthur Azizov, the chief executive of crypto exchange and payment processor B2BinPay, said in emailed comments, adding the improving regulatory landscape and its "immense potential" could push the XRP price beyond its 2017 bull run all-time high in 2025.
"In the past, XRP's growth was constrained by its ongoing legal battle with the SEC, even as other alt coins rallied," Azizov said.
"Right after the announcement of SEC chair Gary Gensler's resignation, XRP has risen by over 36%. His departure has heightened expectations that the ongoing legal battle could soon come to an end in Rippleâs favor. Also, major companies are reportedly planning XRP ETFs, awaiting the conclusion of the lawsuit, which could also pave the way for an IPO" for Ripple.
The crypto community is betting Trump will install a crypto-friendly SEC chair due to his close links to crypto via his non-fungible token (NFT) collections and his new cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi) platform World Liberty Financial.