What does it mean for the price of Ripple?

Open interest in the world’s sixth-largest cryptocurrency has soared to an all-time high of roughly $1.8 billion, according to data from CryptoQuant.

This comes after recent developments surrounding the company behind the token, as well as growing hopes of a change in the US regulatory environment.

XRP OI at New Peaks

CryptoQuant analyst maartunn’s report described the substantial increase in both XRP price and open interest.

XRP price vs OI. Source: CryptoQuant

The chart above shows that both metrics have been moving in tandem since the US election three weeks ago. At the time, XRP struggled below $0.6, while OI was around $500 million. In the weeks that followed, Ripple’s token exploded at times by double and even triple digits and soared above $1.6 for the first time in more than three years with the hype that the president of SEC Gary Gensler will leave his position in January 2025.

Open interest followed a similar trajectory, jumping to $1.8 billion over the weekend, which became its highest level ever.

Aside from Gensler’s announcement, which has “sparked optimism for a more supportive regulatory environment for crypto, including XRP,” Maartunn described two other reasons behind the growing OI.

“2) Political changes: Donald Trump’s recent election victory has generated bullish sentiment, with expectations of more crypto-friendly regulations driving interest in the market.

3) XRP ETF Speculation: Asset managers have filed applications for an XRP ETF. Gensler’s anticipated exit raises hopes of approval, attracting institutional investors to XRP.

Trump ran a pro-crypto campaign during the election cycle, which many believe helped him to a landslide victory. He has made numerous promises about the industry and that his administration will support it and help it thrive, which has helped fuel the recent bull rally.

On the other hand, the inevitable changes at the SEC started a wave of applications for crypto ETFs, and XRP is among the most mentioned tokens that could follow the example of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

What about XRP ATH?

Although up 180% in the past month, XRP’s price of around $1.5 now still means the asset is more than 50% below its ATH reached in early 2018 of 3, $4 (according to CoinGecko). That means he needs more than double his rating to reach those peaks.

While that sounds like a tough challenge, many crypto analysts remain optimistic that XRP will be able to make it through this cycle, especially if there is a quick and favorable conclusion to the lawsuit against the SEC after Gensler leaves.

In some of the more outrageous predictions, the XRP army has outlined targets like $10 or even $30 per coin.

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