Author: Osato Avan-Nomayo, DL News; Compiled by: Tao Zhu, Golden Finance

XRP soared to $2.48 on Monday, hitting its highest price in six years, becoming the world's third most valuable cryptocurrency .

While still below the 2018 high of $3.40, Arthur Azizov, CEO of enterprise crypto payment platform B2BinPay, pointed out that many factors indicate that the cryptocurrency issued by the US blockchain company Ripple may break this record .

Azizov said that Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on November 5 was one of the main reasons.

The Republican candidate's victory sparked a return of bullish enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency market, as investors bet the president-elect will fulfill his pledge to support cryptocurrencies. Since the election, the cryptocurrency market has surged 42% to $3.5 trillion.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says Trump will “make crypto great again.”

Garlinghouse has reason to be so optimistic. XRP has risen fivefold since November 5, outpacing the percentage gains of prominent cryptocurrency rivals Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana.

XRP’s price rise also comes amid a trading frenzy that coincides with Robinhood’s relisting of XRP on its platform last month.

In 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Ripple with allegedly violating securities laws by selling the cryptocurrency, and the trading app delisted XRP after it came under regulatory scrutiny. In August, a U.S. judge fined Ripple $125 million. For his part, Garlinghouse called the ruling a victory for the company.

Ki Young Ju, CEO of crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant, says Coinbase whales are driving XRP’s rise.

Young Ju said intense XRP trading activity on Coinbase has led to a price premium for the cryptocurrency compared to more retail-focused platforms such as Upbit.

Data from crypto analytics platform Scopescan suggests that Korean retail investors have also contributed to XRP’s price surge.

In the past 24 hours, XRP trading volume on Asian exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb has surpassed Bitcoin.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s resignation is also considered to be a factor in the XRP priceThe reason for the rise.

Gensler’s tenure has been marked by a hostile attitude toward the cryptocurrency industry. His departure on January 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration, was seen by many as a positive sign for Ripple.

XRP’s price gains have been restrained by Ripple’s long-running legal battle with the agency. Azizov noted that with Gensler’s departure, the fight could end, which could lead to more growth for the cryptocurrency.

After Trump’s victory, the price of Bitcoin surged to nearly $100,000.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s dominance, defined as its market size as a share of the overall cryptocurrency market value, has fallen to 53% from 60% last week.

Cryptocurrency research agency 10x Research said in an article last week that historically, as the market value of cryptocurrencies increases, the decline of Bitcoin’s dominance usually marks the beginning of the altcoin season. , at which point attention will shift to other cryptocurrencies such as XRP.

Following the success of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds this year, Solana and XRP are racing to become the next cryptocurrencies to receive ETF approval.

Garlinghouse himself has stated that he believes an XRP ETF is “inevitable.”

Bitwise Asset Management, Canary Capital, 21Shares, and WisdomTree have filed with the SEC for XRP spot ETFs.

André Dragosch, head of research at Bitwise Europe, said in a research note last week that if an XRP ETF is approved, it could push prices higher.

With Trump taking office next year, market analysts predict that the path to launching more cryptocurrency ETFs may become easier.

Especially if Trump chooses a cryptocurrency supporter to lead the SEC.