What is XRP and why has its market cap jumped $100B in a month?

Bitcoin is widely known these days – and headed to a $100K valuation -  but a less well-known cryptocurrency is having a moment in the sun.

XRP, a cryptocurrency associated with Ripple Labs, has become the third largest crypto with a surge in market capitalization of $100 billion since the US presidential election on November 5. It now stands at around $137 billion having been less than $30 billion on election day.

On Monday (December 2) the asset was up to $2.50, a six year high. The previous record was $3.84.

While cryptos have fared well since Trump’s win signaled an administration supportive of digital assets with CoinGecko reporting a $1.2 trillion increase in market value in the last month, investors hope that XRP’s legal and regulatory challenges are history.

In 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple Labs, accusing the company of raising money by selling the XRP token without registering it as a security. But while the agency was seeking a $2 billion penalty, the firm was ordered to pay $125 million in August this year, deemed a win over the SEC, which appealed the court's decision in October but it will likely be 2026 before a decision is made.

Although XRP took a hit after the appeal was filed, it had surged 25% after the initial decision and has now surpassed the likes of Solana and Tether to be a serious crypto player.

But along with the potential for light-touch regulation for XRP is the tantalizing prospect of approval for ETFs when the Trump administration’s SEC chair pick takes over from the outgoing Gary Gensler. Bitcoin ETFs have soared more than $6 billion over the last month.

Among the benefits of the digital currency is its speed - it can handle up to 1,500 almost instantaneous transactions per second – its low fees and, as it does not need mining like Bitcoin and some others, it has a lower energy impact.