XRP Prices Surge Over 30% After Leak of Trump's America-First Strategic Reserve Plans and ETF Buzz

Ripple's XRP cryptocurrency prices surged almost 30% in the past five days to trade at £2.67 ($3.25) per token on 17th January, breaking past major resistance levels and reaching an all-time high of £2.76 ($3.36).

A leak reported by the New York Post revealed that the incoming Trump Administration could create a more expansive crypto reserve called the "America-first strategic reserve" that would prioritise cryptocurrencies like Ripple's XRP to facilitate cross-border payments, Solana, and the widely supported USDC stablecoin issued by Circle.

The report cited sources hinting that President-elect Donald Trump is "receptive" to the idea after meeting with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Coinbase Brian Armstrong.

"Compared to other cryptocurrencies, XRP has been showing remarkable strength," B2BInPay CEO Arthur Azizov told Forbes. "While others experienced pullbacks, XRP has just been quietly accumulating, and now it's moving toward its all-time high, which it is likely to surpass."

Azizov predicted that Trump's view of XRP as a strategic reserve could propel XRP prices to more than £8.2 ($10) in 2025.

XRP Prices Boosted By Optimism Around SEC Lawsuit And Cooling Inflation

The recent decision by US authorities to approve Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD, which is expected to be transacted on the Ethereum blockchain, has boosted XRP's outlook. RLUSD's daily transaction volume has already surpassed £82.02 million ($100 million).

Furthermore, the cryptocurrency industry is optimistic that Ripple's years-long legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will finally end under Trump. Industry experts predict Trump's appointment of pro-crypto officials like Paul Atkins as SEC chief and David Sacks as AI and crypto czar will create a favourable regulatory environment, which could lead to the dismissal of the case against Ripple.

Elsewhere, US core inflation for December jumped slower than expected to 3.2% compared to analyst expectations of 3.3%. The slow Core CPI growth rate also came as a relief for many economists who were concerned that inflation was stuck above the US Federal Reserve's 2% target. The figures triggered a crypto market rally led by Bitcoin.

Markets Increasingly Pricing In XRP ETF Approval

The growing optimism surrounding reports suggesting that the SEC could consider Ripple the top candidate for the next spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) after Bitcoin and Ethereum have also boosted XRP prices.

A recent Bloomberg report highlighted that Trump could be planning an executive order to prioritise cryptocurrencies as a "policy priority," and Ripple provided considerable campaign donations during Trump's election preparation process.

Meanwhile, Ripple's president, Monica Long, noted that Trump's team "will likely approve Ripple's spot ETF very quickly." In a recent report, JPMorgan projected that a Ripple ETF could attract funds up to £6.88 billion ($8.4 billion) within 12 months.

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