XRP, the native cryptocurrency of Ripple, recorded a surge on Friday following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) acknowledgment of Grayscale's application to convert its XRP Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). XRP's price surged to a high of $2.76 on Friday, the highest since Feb 3, marking a 14% increase in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko. This rally pushed XRP’s market capitalization to $160 billion. Since then, the price has slightly retraced to $2.72, maintaining an 8% gain over the past week. Driving the surge is the SEC's formal acknowledgment of Grayscale's application to list and trade shares of the Grayscale XRP Trust under NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E. While this acknowledgment does not guarantee approval, it is a significant step toward greater acceptance of cryptocurrency-based ETFs. To continue reading this as well as other DeFi and Web3 news, visit us at thedefiant.io