XRP Approaches Seven-Year High
Date: 2025-01-17 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
Amid a significant increase in the asset's value, which increased by 16% in 24 hours, the volume of open interest in XRP futures reached a record $7.7 billion.
The coin is currently trading at around $3.32, and its market capitalization is $190.9 billion, according to CoinGecko. Over the past seven days, the price of XRP has increased by almost 45%.
The asset's strengthening coincided with the escalation of the legal proceedings between Ripple Labs and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The trial, which began in December 2020, is related to allegations that the regulator illegally sold $1.3 billion in unregistered securities.
In July 2023, the court ruled that XRP sales through programmatic channels and other distributions did not constitute an offer of investment contracts. However, this ruling did not apply to transactions with institutional investors in excess of $700 million.
The SEC is currently trying to challenge this partial defeat by filing an appeal.
Bitget Research senior analyst Ryan Lee notes that despite the possible risks associated with the SEC's actions, the market is showing optimism about crypto regulation in the United States. Interest in XRP is also strengthened by the increased use of the RippleNet payment network by institutional clients.
“If regulatory uncertainty is removed, this could attract additional investment from large players, which would strengthen XRP’s position,” Lee emphasized.
In addition, Santiment analysts pointed to large purchases of cryptocurrency by whales as a key growth factor.
In December 2024, Ripple received permission to launch trading of the RLUSD stablecoin, which also contributed to positive expectations among investors.
