Yesterday, the price of Ripple (XRP) soared to its highest level since July 2023. This was due to rumors that Gary Gensler, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), may soon resign. This news caused XRP to record the largest increase among altcoins.
There are other reasons for the sharp rise in XRP. This on-chain analysis reveals everything you need to know about its development.
XRP Whales Stirred by Rumors of Gary Gensler's Resignation
On Thursday, November 14, when XRP recorded $0.69, comments by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler drew market attention. His remarks on cryptocurrencies were particularly noteworthy.
In his speech, Gensler emphasized that the SEC's actions against Coinbase, Ripple, and Binance were aimed at protecting investors. However, his final remarks—expressing gratitude to his colleagues for their cooperation—sparked speculation that he may be preparing to resign soon.
"It has been an honor to work with them and to serve the public, helping to maintain the world's preeminent capital markets," Gensler said.
Gensler's term is officially scheduled to end in June 2025. However, given that former President Donald Trump had promised to fire him, particularly due to his opposition to cryptocurrencies, rumors of an early retirement are not surprising.
These remarks also resonated strongly with XRP holders, who have been affected by the Ripple vs. SEC case since 2020. As a result, the price of XRP surged to $0.80, the highest level since the July 2023 ruling by Judge Analisa Torres that the token is not a security.
Beyond legal developments, the sharp rise in XRP was further fueled by significant whale accumulation. According to sentiment data, crypto whales have accumulated around 3.44 billion tokens over the past two years. This means that the wallets holding at least 1 million XRP have been the largest token holders for the past 65 months.
At the current price, this amounts to $2.75 billion, reflecting substantial buying pressure that is contributing to the altcoin's upward momentum. If this trend continues, the price of XRP could well exceed $0.80. But will it?
XRP Price Prediction: Robinhood Listing Bodes Well... Will Gensler Really Resign?
The rise in XRP's price means the token has surged 45% in the past week. This development may be linked to Robinhood's decision to list the token. On the daily chart, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) remains positive.
The MACD indicator shows the relationship between two moving averages of an asset's price, and is a trend-following momentum tool. Traders use this indicator to assess the strength of bullish or bearish momentum.
Momentum is bearish when negative, but it is bullish because it is positive. If this condition persists, the XRP price could rise to $0.85. However, this may not happen if crypto whales start selling in large quantities. In that case, XRP could drop to $0.63.
