XRP, managed by digital asset infrastructure and payments firm Ripple Labs, is trading at a three-year high as the broader cryptocurrency market benefits from upcoming favorable political winds in the US.
Although the asset has shed 16% of its value from its peak of $1.20 on Saturday, it is still up more than 80% over the past week to $1.06, according to data from TradingView.
XRP 4-hour price chart | Source: TradingView
The token has been on a clear upward trend since President-elect Donald Trump won the US presidential election earlier this month.
This has spurred investor interest in many cryptocurrencies, including memecoins, whose tokens continue to lead the market rally in terms of overall performance along with relative gains for large-cap coins.
This is most evident in the world’s sixth-largest altcoin’s futures market, where open interest (OI) has surged to a record high just below $2 billion, according to data from CoinGlass.
Open interest represents the total number of active futures or options contracts that remain open and have not yet been settled or closed.
High open interest often reflects increased speculative trading as traders bet on future price movements. This can lead to greater volatility as leveraged positions amplify reactions to news or market events.
“The recent surge in open interest in XRP futures to record levels shows growing interest from traders, which is often an indicator of market optimism,” Nick Forster, founder of protocol Derive, told Decrypt.
Combined with the consistently high and positive funding rate, it suggests that new market participants may be taking advantage of the underlying trading opportunities in XRP, the founder added.
Basis trading refers to a strategy that seeks to profit from the difference between the spot price of an asset and its price in the futures or derivatives market.
“This activity highlights the growing appeal of XRP and its dynamic position within the trading community, indicating speculative optimism as traders position themselves to capitalize on anticipated price movements,” Forster said.
This comes amid speculation that Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler could resign shortly after Trump takes office on January 20.
According to many industry insiders, Gensler has been persistent in what they call a “crusade” against digital asset companies, including Ripple.
The SEC lawsuit against Ripple Labs, filed in December 2020, alleges that the company and its founders sold XRP to investors that were deemed securities. In July 2023, a federal judge ruled that XRP was not a security when sold to retail investors, but that sales to institutions violated securities laws, resulting in a $125 million fine against Ripple.
The SEC appealed the decision, and the court set a January 2025 deadline for the SEC's final filings.
With Gensler's potential departure, Ripple, and thus XRP, may have a clearer opportunity to regain market confidence and expand its use case without regulatory uncertainty, depending on the outcome of the case.
With the upcoming change in political leadership in the US, XRP traders are hopeful that the SEC may loosen its stance in court on classifying XRP as a security.
Trump has announced his intention to “fire Gary Gensler on day one.” Gensler has also recently expressed his intention to resign.
That could also bolster the prospects for a US-listed XRP exchange-traded fund.
As evidenced by the recent price surge, XRP investors are betting on those developments, Pratik Kala, portfolio manager and head of research at digital asset fund manager Apollo Crypto, told Decrypt.
“XRP is rising on rumors that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse will advise Trump on crypto policy,” Kala said.
This has boosted trader sentiment, and with Bitwise and 21Shares previously filing for an XRP ETF, some are connecting these developments in hopes of capturing the upside potential, he added.
Source: https://tapchibitcoin.io/gia-xrp-cao-nhat-trong-3-nam-khi-hop-dong-mo-dat-ky-luc.html