Why is the Ripple (XRP) Price Up Today?

TL;DR

• XRP surged 10%, breaking market stagnation and surpassing Tether (USDT) to become the third-largest cryptocurrency.
• Its resurgence occurred shortly after the US SEC acknowledged Grayscale’s application to convert its XRP Trust into an ETF.

Becoming a Top Performer Again

The cryptocurrency market hasn’t shown much action in the past 24 hours, with most leading digital assets charting mild increases or consolidating at yesterday’s levels (February 13).

However, Ripple’s XRP has defied the ongoing trend, with its price rising by 10% on a daily scale. Currently, it trades at $2.68 (per CoinGecko’s data), while its market capitalization surged past $152 billion. Thus, it became the third-biggest cryptocurrency, surpassing Tether (USDT).

Perhaps the most likely factor fueling the rally is the US SEC’s decision to acknowledge Grayscale’s application to convert its XRP Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). While this is a significant step forward, it does not guarantee the approval of the product. The acknowledgment is followed by a review process that usually takes up to 240 days, during which the regulator will thoroughly evaluate the filing before making a final decision.

A potential green light will give investors additional options to gain exposure to XRP without the need to buy, store, or manage the asset directly. This could attract more people into the ecosystem and positively impact the price in the long run.

One person commenting on the SEC’s recent move was Ripple’s CEO – Brad Garlinghouse. He reminded that he has repeatedly said such a development was “inevitable.” 

Last year, the executive claimed that investors seek exposure to multiple cryptocurrencies (not only Bitcoin) via exchange-traded funds. Apart from a spot XRP ETF, he also predicted that the SEC could approve products with Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) as underlying assets. 

Potential Impact on the Ripple v. SEC Case?

The aforementioned move by the regulator has sparked huge enthusiasm across the XRP Army. Many believe the approval of the XRP ETF is now just a matter of time, while some have speculated that the SEC’s positive stance could also transpire into the legal front. 

The popular X user XRPcryptowolf thinks the securities watchdog wouldn’t have acknowledged Grayscale’s ETF application “unless they were for sure going to drop the XRP case.” 

To the uninitiated ones, the lawsuit between Ripple and SEC dates back to December 2020. Over the past few years, the company secured some partial court wins, which seemingly tipped the scales in its favor.

Additionally, the crypto critic Gary Gensler (the previous Chairman of the SEC) vacated his post on January 20 and was succeeded by Mark Uyeda, who has an entirely different stance on the industry.

Those changes have caused the Ripple community to predict a favorable resolution soon. However, they should keep in mind the complexity of the case and have somewhat realistic expectations.