- Donald Trump aims to create a cryptocurrency reserve that prioritizes assets created in the United States, such as XRP, Solana, and USDC.
- The SEC has appealed Judge Annalisa Torres' decision in the case against Ripple, drawing intense criticism from the crypto community.
- XRP is aiming for a new high above $3.55 after sustaining its uptrend above the psychological level near $3.00.
XRP continued to trade above the $3 mark on Thursday as investors stepped into accumulation gear following rumors that Donald Trump was considering adding to the US digital asset reserve. This optimism culminated after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an appeal against Ripple, in defiance of a potential selloff.
XRP maintains bullish momentum despite SEC appeal
The SEC filed a brief with the Court of Appeals on Wednesday, arguing that Judge Annalisa Torres erred in ruling that XRP sales to retail investors are not securities offerings.
Some market participants believe the appeal is futile due to the SEC's “weak” arguments and the SEC's change in government.
“As expected, the SEC's appellate brief is a rehash of already failed arguments and is likely to be abandoned by the incoming administration,” Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderroti wrote in an X post.
He added that the complaint is “just noise” and that Ripple will respond in due course.
Similarly, attorney Jeremy Hogan suggested briefs were unnecessary and would simply be ignored by the court.
“This SEC brief was difficult to understand because… [in my opinion]this case will never be decided,” he wrote in an X post on Thursday.
Mr. Hogan argues that the brief only asserts that the sale of XRP to investors is considered a security, and does not allege that any of the investors were harmed, so the brief is He pointed out that he thought it was “lackluster.”
XRP briefly fell after the appeal, but quickly resumed its rise a few hours later, showing investors unfazed by the outgoing SEC administration's efforts.
A possible reason for this strong sense of confidence among investors is the topic surrounding President-elect Donald Trump's cryptocurrency reform.
President Trump reportedly supports the formation of America's first crypto reserve fund for crypto tokens founded in the United States, including XRP, Solana, and USDC.
A report in the New York Post suggested that President Trump has been meeting with the founders of these companies in the past few weeks about the idea.
However, the New York Times reports that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has proposed to President Trump that he include other digital assets in what could be the nation's first cryptocurrency reserve. It was reported that he just did it.
The preparation of a digital asset by XRP could cement its credibility as an asset and end the five-year battle between Ripple and the SEC. Similarly, remittance-based adoption could be further strengthened and the approval of XRP ETFs expedited.
“To be clear, I believe that SEC approval for Solana and the XRP ETF is currently a matter of when, not if,” said Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seifert. “
JPMorgan predicted that if approved, the XRP ETF could bring in inflows of $4.3 billion to $8.4 billion within six to 12 months.
On the other hand, Unchained Crypto reported In a recent meeting, President Trump is said to have criticized Ripple executives for extending much of their support to Kamala Harris during the US election.
XRP on-chain activity shows strong buy-side bias
- XRP's market capitalization reached a new high of over $190 billion on Thursday, even though the price has not yet reached its all-time high. This is mainly due to the huge pile of locked XRP that is gradually unlocked over time. As a result, XRP reached its highest price since its inception when adjusted for supply growth.
- The recent price increase has caused the number of XRP whale transactions to surge to levels not seen since December 3rd. Additionally, Santiment data shows that the total number of XRP holders released over the past two months has increased by more than 511,000, indicating continued bullish momentum.
XRP just hit a seven-year high, surpassing the market price of $3.39 for the first time since January 2018. The rally resulted in 2,365 XRP trades of $100,000 or more in the latest eight-hour span, the highest spike since then. December 34th. The total number of holders is also rapidly increasing. pic.twitter.com/gtaRp0NPn9
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) January 16, 2025
- XRP's open interest continued to set new highs along with the price, reaching an all-time high of 2.34 billion XRP on December 16th. This is an increase of more than 160% from the post-holiday low of 880 million XRP on December 21st.
XRP open interest. Source: Coinglass - XRP has reversed Bitcoin in Google search trends, soaring to a high of 96, while Bitcoin is hovering around 62. High investor interest is contributing to XRP's increasing bullish momentum.
Google Trends for XRP and Bitcoin
XRP breaks resistance at $2.9 and aims for all-time high above $4.5
According to data from Coinglass, XRP continues to liquidate more than $37 million in the past 24 hours. Total long positions liquidated were $18.02 million and short liquidations were $19.8 million.
XRP broke through the resistance near the psychological level of $3.00 and reached a seven-year high of $3.4.
This surge above resistance strengthened XRP’s quest to achieve the bullish pennant pattern objective by establishing a new all-time high above the psychological level of $4.5. The target is obtained by measuring the pennant pole and projecting upward from the breakout point.
XRP/USDT 8 hour chart
However, for this move to complete, the remittance-based token will need to hold the $2.90 level as major support.
On the way up, the pair will face major resistance near the all-time high of $3.55, with a potential pullback near the psychological level of $4.00.
On the downside, if XRP breaks the support at $2.90, it could rebound from the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level at $2.60.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) are in overbought territory, indicating that XRP is likely to undergo a short-term correction.
If the daily candlestick closes below $1.96, the theory becomes invalid and XRP is sent to find support near $1.35.
