XRP Surges 14%, Nears $1.70 Level Last Seen in April 2021

Several fundamental and regulatory developments have pushed the XRP price to levels not seen since April 2021, with bulls now eyeing the $2 mark in a sign of renewed strength for the previously embattled token.

XRP surged 14% in the past 24 hours, outpacing bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies, extending a month-long run that has seen the price rise 200% to make the token the best-performing major token alongside dogecoin (DOGE).

Prices approached $1.70 in the European morning, with 24-hour trading volume rising 30% to $10 billion. Volume was led by South Korean exchange UpBit.

There was no immediately apparent cause for Friday's jump, though several factors have contributed to XRP's appeal in recent weeks.

The rise started in early November after Republican victories in the U.S. elections renewed investor confidence in tokens with links to U.S. companies, such as XRP's closely related Ripple Labs.

XRP advanced again in mid-November when U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said he would step down in January — boosting hopes of a more relaxed regulatory environment.

XRP and U.S. dollar-denominated open interest are over record levels, with over 2 billion tokens (worth more than $2 billion at current prices) in futures positions betting on further market volatility.

Some traders also expect an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., especially those anticipating a more-lenient regulatory environment. A money-market fund launched on XRP Ledger, the network that uses XRP as fees to confirm and process transactions, boosting expectations of institutional usage.

Ripple has said it plans to invest an unspecified amount in the newly rebranded Bitwise Physical XRP ETP (earlier called the ETC Group Physical XRP), as reported Wednesday. The announcement sent XRP higher by 10% at the time.