XRP Jumps 40% in 2025—What’s Behind It?

Wale purchases and ETF anticipations: what else has affected Ripple Labs' cryptocurrency rate?

The growth rate of Ripple Labs' XRP cryptocurrency (XRP) has increased by 25 per cent in one week and almost 40 per cent since the beginning of the year (from $2.09 to $2.88). Amid XRP's significant price growth, community members recalled that, during the 2017-2018 market cycle, the token repeatedly rose to second place by capitalisation, surpassing Ethereum (ETH).

At 1:30 p.m., XRP is trading at $2.83 with a capitalisation of $162.2 billion. ETH's capitalisation is $387 billion, but the leading altcoin shows no signs of growth. Over the past week, Ethereum has declined 4%.

In addition, Ripple is donating $100,000 in XRP through The Giving Block to WC Kitchen and Give Directly to support relief efforts following the California wildfires.

Currently, there is positive news surrounding Ripple. According to Bloomberg's ETF analyst, James Seyffarth, as of December 2024, four applications have already been filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on XRP. JPMorgan predicts that capital flows into these ETFs could exceed those of existing Ethereum funds within six months of launch.

In addition, on-chain analysts have noted an increase in XRP purchases by market 'whales'. Santiment speculated that the token price growth may be related to a "continued massive accumulation" in wallets containing 1 to 10 million XRP. The analyst firm reported that since 12 November, this group of investors had accumulated 1.43 billion XRP, an increase of about 37.4 per cent.

Ripple's Legal Victory and Strategic Moves Push Investor Optimism

The positive sentiment among investors is also fuelled by the fact that the deadline for the SEC to file a lawsuit against Ripple expires on 15 January. The regulator has been filing a lawsuit against the company for several years, seeking to equate XRP with unregistered securities, but in 2023 the court ruled that retail sales of XRP cannot be considered under those terms.

Ripple is currently in talks to place its proprietary stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), with major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase. The token is set to launch in December 2024. According to CoinMarketCap, RLUSD is already available on the Bitso, Bullish, Bitstamp, Mercado Bitcoin and Independent Reserve trading platforms.

At the same time, Ripple is a major crypto sponsor of Trump's election campaign and his upcoming inauguration. XRP's growth in early January was further boosted by a meeting between Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty and Donald Trump. Market experts noted that this event was "definitely a positive sign" for XRP.

In the past 24 hours, Ripple has seen a larger price increase than Bitcoin. Two other cryptocurrencies in the top 10 by capitalisation, Cardano (ADA) and Dogecoin (DOGE), have also outpaced the top cryptocurrency in terms of growth.