The outlook for altcoins appears grim relative to Bitcoin as a fresh trade war potentially exploding between the U.S. and its major trading partners risks destabilizing the world economy. Still, some coins are flashing bullish hints. XRP, for instance, staged an impressive 50% surge in January, outperforming the broader crypto market following bullish regulatory developments for Ripple. And one popular analyst suggests that the crypto could be poised for a meteoric rally based on two possible catalysts. XRP ETF Launch To Spark Price Explosion In a recent post on X, an analyst going by the online moniker Digital Asset Investor suggested that spot U.S.-listed XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launching would trigger a parabolic rise for the Ripple-linked cryptocurrency. In 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved issuers to list spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in January and July, respectively. However, other ETF filings, including proposed spot XRP products, languished — particularly due to the long-standing legal spat between Ripple and the securities regulator. Now, with pro-crypto President Donald Trump back in the Oval Office, commentators are anticipating the approval of XRP exchange-traded funds in 2025. Investment giant JPMorgan estimates that XRP ETFs, including those proposed by asset managers Bitwise , 21Shares , Canary Capital , WisdomTree , and Grayscale , will attract upward of $8 billion in investor money into XRP. Notably, Bitcoin was valued at $44,480 on Jan. 10, the day of Bitcoin ETF approval. The world’s largest crypto then rocketed to as high as $73,780 in March 2024. The price boom was juiced by the SEC’s greenlighting of spot BTC ETFs and the mountains of cash that ensued. The price of XRP has grown by over 450% since Trump won the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 6. As of Feb. 4, XRP’s market cap hovers at around $150 billion, according to CoinGecko. “No digital asset is more coiled than XRP,” the analyst postulated. XRP Lawsuit Resolution Is Another Tailwind Digital Asset Investor also pointed to the resolution of the Ripple vs. SEC lawsuit as another potential driver for a mega XRP upsurge. The SEC initially unleashed its lawsuit in December 2020, accusing Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen of raising over $1.3 billion via an unregistered securities offering of the XRP token. Ripple gained significant ground in July 2023 when Judge Analisa Torres found that XRP sales to retail investors on exchanges did not break securities laws. However, the same court slapped Ripple with a $125 million fine in August 2024, asserting that the company’s institutional XRP sales violated securities regulations. With Gensler exiting amid the lawsuit’s appeal stage , pro-crypto acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda is expected to adopt a more friendly approach than his predecessor, fueling speculation that a settlement could be on the horizon.
