XRP surges and surpasses Solana in market capitalization

XRP has entered the top 4 cryptocurrencies, surpassing BNB and Solana this past week, trading above USD 2.

XRP is now more valuable than Solana.

The departure of Gary Gensler has boosted the price of XRP.

The end of the legal battle between the SEC and XRP is encouraging the price increase. 

XRP from Ripple started December marking a new high in the last 7 years, exceeding USD 2. It was the top 10 cryptocurrency by market capitalization with the best performance, quadrupling its price in less than a month. This increase allowed XRP to surpass BNB and Solana in market capitalization, now ranking top 4.

But what is primarily driving this increase? Although the main factor is the pull effect generated by Bitcoin over the last month for all altcoins, the possible outcome of the legal dispute that Ripple, the issuer of XRP, faces with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is one of the main factors that has raised optimism and demand for the cryptocurrency.

For years, the SEC accused Ripple of violating securities law by issuing XRP without prior registration with the agency, arguing that it should be considered a security and, therefore, be under its jurisdiction. This event crashed the price of XRP at that time. However, a judge ruled in July 2023 that XRP could be considered a security in certain cases of issuance, but not in all. Although this ambiguity generated optimism in the market, it also left doubts about the future. The SEC appealed the decision, so the case will return to trial.