Amid expectations of a major legal victory for Ripple Labs and a possible SEC lawsuit dismissal, the XRP token is expected to return twice as much as Bitcoin in 2024.
Article written by: Zoltan Vardai
Source: Cointelegraph
Article translation: Ada, MetaEra
Bitcoin’s historic rise to $100,000 a coin is one of many important cryptocurrency comeback stories.
The year brought many prominent crypto projects that had been facing difficulties back to life, including Ripple Labs, which won a major victory in its lawsuit against US securities regulators, while the memecoin and asset tokenization industries also experienced a recovery driven by strong growth forecasts.
In addition to setting new all-time highs, the cryptocurrency industry in 2024 also attracted renewed attention to blockchain from some of the world's largest institutions, such as BlackRock, which launched multiple cryptocurrency-based products.
Additionally, Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election has boosted investor interest in risky assets like cryptocurrencies, as an improved regulatory environment is expected to bring more clarity, especially for tokens like XRP.
Ripple Labs and XRP Token Win in 2024
Despite more than four years of regulatory battles between Ripple and the SEC, the XRP token has shown its resilience with the support of a group of committed holders.
Over the past year, the XRP token has gained more than 251%, more than double Bitcoin’s 117% return, according to Cointelegraph. This makes XRP the second-best performer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, according to Cryptobubbles.
In addition to the financial returns of XRP tokens, Ripple Labs has created a "turnaround legend" in the past year, said Alvin Kan, COO of Bitget Wallet.
He told Cointelegraph: “In 2024, Ripple and XRP have performed well in the cryptocurrency space. After overcoming legal challenges, Ripple has consolidated its position in the cross-border payment space, established partnerships with more than 300 financial institutions, and achieved a market capitalization of more than $30 billion.”
Ripple scored a major legal victory in July 2023 when a federal judge ruled that programmatic sales of XRP on digital asset exchanges were not securities.
This marks a major victory for Ripple as the SEC's lawsuit seeks to force Ripple to stop offering its XRP token, which would require additional regulation if deemed a security.
However, the SEC also scored a victory of its own, with a federal judge ruling that XRP was a security when sold to institutional investors because it met the conditions set out in the Howey test.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020. In August 2024, a judge ruled that the company should pay a $125 million civil penalty, which Ripple appealed and the civil case is still ongoing as of the time of publication.
On Oct. 16, the SEC filed a civil appeal form asking the court to review its decision regarding Ripple’s XRP sales on exchanges and personal XRP sales by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen.
Trump’s upcoming inauguration and his selection of Paul Atkins as SEC chairman have rekindled investor hopes that the SEC might drop its legal action against Ripple Labs amid a more pro-innovation cryptocurrency regulatory environment.
Memecoin recovery: PEPE up 1,600% and WIF up 1,400% attract more retail investors
Memecoin has experienced a remarkable renaissance, becoming one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies this year and creating new crypto millionaires in the process.
Solana-based Dogwifhat WIF memecoin is up over 1,273% year to date, making it the second best performing coin among the top 100 cryptocurrencies. It is followed by Pepe, which is up 1,229% and is the third best performing coin.
As Cointelegraph reported on Dec. 14, thanks to Pepe’s rally, one savvy memecoin trader turned a $27 investment into $52 million after holding the tokens for 600 days.
International blockchain expert Anndy Lian said that while 2024 is a transformative year for the entire cryptocurrency industry, the memecoin reversal saga is a significant development.
He told Cointelegraph: “Memecoins are often viewed as speculative tokens, but in 2024, they have found new meaning through the fusion of humor, culture, and financial innovation. Tokens such as Dogecoin, Shibacoin, and Neiro have gained attention, and Dogecoin has even influenced American politics through Elon Musk’s appointment as the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.).”
“The Memecoin comeback saga proves the power of community-driven projects,” Lian added.
"Some cryptocurrency traders believe that Pepe is the Dogecoin of this cycle, which has also gained more attention due to Musk's social media posts," wrote Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research. "Due to Elon Musk's continued influence, Dogecoin may be on the verge of a new breakout, and the positive sentiment in the cryptocurrency market as a whole (especially memecoin) has also provided additional impetus for its price increase."
On November 27, Dogecoin’s market value surpassed that of Porsche as Musk’s involvement in the creation of the emerging Ministry of Government Efficiency further fueled market interest.
RWA Tokenization Could Generate a Trillion-Dollar Growth by 2030
The RWA tokenization space has also seen a renaissance thanks to its promise to bring traditional finance on-chain, thereby creating more liquidity and accessibility for investment products.
RWA tokenization refers to the minting of financial and other physical assets onto an immutable blockchain ledger, thereby increasing investor accessibility and trading opportunities for these assets.
Brickken co-founder and CEO Edwin Mata told Cointelegraph that the launch of the BlackRock Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) is a pivotal moment in the RWA tokenization space.
“BlackRock’s launch of BUIDL on Ethereum is a defining moment that demonstrates how blockchain can bring real, tangible value to the financial world. This is more than just a technology experiment – it restores trust in the blockchain ecosystem,” he said.
BlackRock’s tokenized treasury fund surpassed $500 million in market capitalization, becoming the first fund of its kind to reach that milestone in July 2024.
BlackRock’s BUIDL surpassed the Franklin On-Chain U.S. Government Money Fund (BENJI) to become the world’s largest tokenized treasury fund in late April — less than six weeks after its launch on March 15. BUIDL has maintained that lead ever since.
BUIDL’s price is pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, and daily accrued dividends are paid directly to investors each month through a partnership with Securitize, a real-world asset tokenization platform.
“Tokenized funds bring greater transparency, liquidity and accessibility to an already trusted financial product,” said Mata, adding: “The cryptocurrency industry has been criticized for its speculative nature and lack of integration with the traditional financial system. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is demonstrating that blockchain can enhance, not replace, traditional finance.”
In other notable developments in the RWA space, Tezos launched the world’s first uranium marketplace on the blockchain, enabling retail investors to access tokenized uranium for the first time ever.
Additionally, RWA is unlocking new investment opportunities in the $700 billion reinsurance market with the launch of Nayms, a crypto-native (re)insurance marketplace platform that leverages RWA tokenization to provide investors with access to insurance.
The RWA sector could see more than 50-fold growth by 2030, according to projections from some of the world’s largest financial institutions and business consulting firms compiled in a Tren Finance research report.
Most firms predict that the market size for RWAs could be between $4 trillion and $30 trillion.
If the sector achieves the median forecast of around $10 trillion, this would represent a more than 54-fold increase in value from its current level.
2024 marks a dramatic resurgence for the cryptocurrency industry in terms of valuation and mainstream trust. Ripple’s legal victory and growing interest in memecoins and RWAs demonstrate the industry’s growing legitimacy with retail participants and regulators around the world.
