XRP’s value surges by over $1 billion in 24 hours; can Ripple’s token reclaim $0.5?

The $XRP token saw its market capitalization soar by a staggering $1 billion in under 24 hours. Amidst a tide of investor fever sweeping the crypto landscape, the value of the $XRP token has been on an upward trajectory.

$XRP’s market capitalization made a meteoric leap from $20 billion to a stellar $21.4 billion on January 24, 2023. TradingView data shows this surge follows a steady climb of 7% over the past week and a staggering 20% over the past 30 days.

Currently trading at $0.4075 per token, $XRP has seen a steady climb from its January position of $0.33. The moving averages suggest a “strong buy,” while the oscillators indicate a “sell.”

Bullish for XRP

Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, is optimistic about XRP’s future. Moreover, the cryptocurrency community foresaw that $XRP would reach new heights and finish January 2023 close to the $0.40 mark, a climb of over 14% from its current levels. 

This prophecy has yet to come to fruition, but the signs point to a promising ascent for the digital asset.

There is still speculation on whether to be bearish or bullish for XRP. Despite the recent surge, experts predict XRP will settle at $0.41 by the end of February.

Whales after XRP

Meanwhile, $XRP whale addresses rapidly increased at the end of last year. Crypto whales have increased their grip on the XRP market, now controlling 18.3% of the total supply, up from 16.7%, with holdings valued between $34,000 and $3.4 million, holding between 100,000 and 10 million tokens.

Whales started to stock up on XRP holdings at the end of September, and early October as the cryptocurrency’s price began to rise like a tide. 

As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs set their sights on putting an end to their legal battle, the whales sensed an opportunity to make their move.

SEC vs. XRP

In 2020, the SEC launched a legal battle against Ripple and two of its leaders, alleging they had committed securities fraud by selling unregistered XRP tokens worth $1.3 billion. Ripple denied the allegations, insisting that XRP is not a security but a digital asset with utility.

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, declared in early Jan 2023 that the company’s legal battle with the SEC is far from over, and a settlement is unlikely.

Furthermore, he also expressed optimism that a resolution will arrive between Q1 and Q3 of 2023.

#Davos: Caught up with @ripple CEO @bgarlinghouse whos thinks SEC lawsuit will be resolved in the first half of this year.

"Optimistic this will certainly be resolved in 2023, in maybe the first half. I feel very good about where we are relative to the law and the facts." $XRP pic.twitter.com/FcgerTM0Xn

— Arjun Kharpal (@ArjunKharpal) January 18, 2023

Jeremy Hogan, an XRP proponent and legal counsel, has suggested that if the lawsuit were to be settled, it could trigger a supply shock. 

This could lead to a price surge as the demand for the digital asset remains unchanged, but the supply drastically decreases.