Surging interest in XRP, Ripple's native cryptocurrency, has led it to surpass Bitcoin (BTC) as the most-traded digital asset on Coinbase. This shift highlights a growing trend among American crypto investors shifting their focus to XRP. The catalyst behind this interest was a recent meeting between Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, where they discussed broadening crypto assets in potential national reserves beyond just Bitcoin.
XRP's trading statistics underscore this trend. On-chain data from CoinGecko revealed that the XRP/USD pair reached a 24-hour trading volume of over $1.67 billion, accounting for 23.57% of Coinbase's total traded volume. In contrast, BTC/USD's volume stood at more than $1.4 billion, representing 19.84%.
Despite BTC's enduring dominance on Binance, XRP remains second, although Binance is inaccessible to American investors.
There's a confluence of factors drawing U.S. and global investors to XRP. Donald Trump’s imminent presidency could herald increased acceptance for cryptocurrencies like BTC. Reports suggest that the president-elect favors U.S.-based cryptocurrencies, such as XRP, Solana (SOL), and USD Coin (USDC). Moreover, there are signals that the incoming administration might support a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Polymarket data indicates that 67% of traders anticipate an XRP-backed ETP within the year. Investment entities, including Bitwise, Canary Capital, and WisdomTree, have submitted applications for XRP ETF approval with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The influx of investors has propelled XRP's value upwards, climbing more than 4% to reach $3.31. This brings XRP within striking distance of its January 2018 all-time high of $3.40.
Similar to Bitcoin, market analysts suggest that Trump's strategic reserve inclusion of XRP may drive its price to unprecedented levels.