As the price of Bitcoin (BTC) surged above $99,000 in the past 24 hours, the altcoin market, led by XRP backed by Ripple Labs, experienced significant volatility. For the first time since the beginning of 2021, the price of XRP rose above $1.4 after gaining 27 percent in the past 24 hours.



In the past two weeks, the price of XRP has risen over 150 percent, bringing its fully diluted valuation to a multi-year peak of around $140 billion. As a result, XRP has now surpassed the top memecoin, Dogecoin (DOGE), to rank as the sixth-largest digital asset by market valuation.

Factors influencing the XRP price surge

The end of an era at the top of the U.S. SEC

The main reason for the sharp rise in XRP's price in the past 24 hours is the announcement of the resignation of the current chair of the U.S. SEC, Gary Gensler.

In the context of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump seeking to appoint a crypto-friendly chair for the SEC, Gensler has announced that he will resign on January 20.

Although anticipated, this announcement is still a significant relief for the XRP community following the recent appeal session regarding the SEC and Ripple lawsuit.

The impact of short-selling

In the past 24 hours, the cryptocurrency leverage market has recorded a total of $406 million in forced liquidations. The majority of rekt cryptocurrency investors are related to short sellers, thereby increasing the impact of the ongoing short-selling situation.

Notably, over $25 million has been liquidated from the XRP leverage market.

Therefore, an increasing number of traders are eager for the price of XRP to rise after the price successfully broke out of a multi-year symmetric triangle pattern.

Furthermore, the weekly Relative Strength Index (RSI) of XRP has surged above 70 percent for the first time since April 2021, signaling the return of bullish sentiment.

High demand from whale investors

The open interest (OI) of XRP has surged above $2.1 billion for the first time this year, as the instrument surpassed key mid-term targets. The demand for XRP has spiked significantly as reflected in the average daily trading volume, hovering around $17.3 billion early today.

According to on-chain data analysis, XRP whales have been accumulating strongly in recent times amid expectations of upcoming legal clarity in the U.S.