Payments-focused cryptocurrency XRP jumped to a two-month high on Monday. Erasing the late-December price slide triggered by legal troubles at the San Francisco-based payment protocol developer Ripple Labs.
XRP rose to a high of $0.6836 during European trading hours — its highest level since Nov. 25 — extending the weekend’s rally from $0.27 to $0.50. With the recent price move, the cryptocurrency has replaced the Tether (USDT) stablecoin as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market value.
Less than two months ago, XRP prices fell from $0.55 to $0.20 after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, prompting a number of exchanges to delist the cryptocurrency.
The regulator charged the company with violating securities laws by raising $1.3 billion over seven years from retail investors through its sales of XRP.
Ripple Labs pushed back against the SEC’s allegations on Friday. Arguing the functionality and liquidity of XRP are wholly incompatible with securities regulation, adding that its registration as a security would impair its main utility in faster, cheaper and more transparent global payments.
Ripple Response to SEC Does Wonders For XRP Price
The response did wonders for the XRP price, as it rose 56% on Saturday to register its biggest single-day gain in three years. A coordinated effort by the members of the two-day-old Telegram group called “Buy & Hold XRP,” alongside calls to buy XRP by the r/SatoshiStreetBets group, has helped the cryptocurrency stay on the offensive ever since.
The cryptocurrency is trading near $0.66 at press time, representing a nearly 30% gain on the day. “XRP’s next target is $0.80, which, if breached, would allow a rally to $1 and higher,” said Alex Melikhov, the CEO and founder of cryptocurrency framework Equilibrium and the EOSDT stablecoin.
However, some analysts believe XRP’s rally goes beyond the push from online communities. “24H volume on XRP on Sunday was over $26 billion, popular Twitter-based analyst Credible Crypto tweeted Saturday.
“Even if each of the groups’ members dropped $5,000 on XRP, that equates to 2% of total daily volume. Let’s be rational here – no Telegram group is pumping the 5th largest coin in the space.”
In the long-term, Credible believes that XRP is poised to print a new all-time high even amid the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple.
“I expect XRP to make a new all-time high regardless of the status of the case,” he said. “Of course, a settlement would be great and probably accelerate price appreciation but I don’t think XRP will ‘wait’ for the case to be resolved. Demand remains strong outside the U.S. in my opinion.”
