XRP continued its upward trajectory this month despite a recent market correction, putting the token’s market valuation at 4X larger than Nigeria’s major stock market.
The Ripple-based token has increased by 400 percent in the past month, with a market valuation of $149 billion.
Nigeria’s major stock market has a market valuation of N59.2 trillion ($35 billion).
A month ago, one XRP was worth about fifty cents. The value continued to rise, reaching $1.50 by the end of November, after doubling by the middle of the month. Then, over the weekend, XRP crossed the $2 mark and is now trading at about $2.61. The digital asset is the third-largest cryptocurrency in the world, after surpassing even Tether’s USDT, the leading dollar-pegged stablecoin.
XRP Fundamentals Remain Strong
Ripple’s partial victory in its battle with the SEC in August did little to boost the price of XRP because the SEC appealed the portion of the ruling that it lost. However, after the U.S. presidential election, the narrative changed. Current SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced last week that he would be leaving the position.
- Online brokerage Robinhood’s “crypto” division relisted XRP for its U.S. market on November 13, elevating buying interest. WisdomTree joined Bitwise, 21Shares, and Canary Capital in the queue after submitting its XRP ETF application to the SEC on December 2.
- Additionally, there are rumors that Ripple’s earlier declared intentions to join the stablecoin market may soon come to fruition. Fox Business stated on November 29 that the Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin could launch as early as December 4 if approved by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
The dollar-denominated RLUSD will be issued on Ethereum and Ripple’s own XRP Ledger via Standard Custody and Trust Company, a NYDFS-licensed company that Ripple acquired in June. On December 2, several mints totaling tens of millions of dollars were reported by an “X” account created to track RLUSD’s “beta testing.”
Historical Data Calls for Caution
Historical chart patterns reveal a remarkable resemblance between the current price movement of XRP and its 2017 parabolic run. A multi-year symmetrical triangle pattern was broken by the XRP/USD pair in 2017, which caused its price to rise from below $0.01 to its highest point ever, close to $3.50.
- XRP seems to have executed a similar breakout in 2024 following more than three years of consolidation within a similar triangle structure. Given that XRP/USD is trading in a crucial sell-off zone, it is important to exercise caution and consider the possibility that XRP may make a local top close to its current levels.
- Long-term bear market cycles have historically been initiated by this “topping out area,” as evidenced by the 95 percent crash that occurred between 2017 and 2020, and the additional 85 percent decline during the March 2021–May 2022 correction.
Should history repeat itself, XRP might enter a bear market in 2025, likely targeting its current rising trendline, corresponding to the resistance range of $0.70–$1.00 from July 2024 to October 2024.
