- Ripple’s case with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could come to an end with Mark Ueda, the crypto-pro-acting chief, now taking over leadership of the agency.
- On-chain XRP activity reveals that whales have increased their buying pressure.
- XRP could rise to a new all-time high at $4.22 if it breaks the upper border of the bull flag.
The value of Ripple (XRP) rose 5% on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced cryptocurrency advocate Mark Ueda as the new acting head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This announcement follows increased buying activity across the XRP spot market and investment products.
XRP is seeing a rise in bullish sentiment with the appointment of the new acting SEC Chairman
Most members of the cryptocurrency community expect the SEC to drop its appeal against Ripple after Gary Gensler resigned as SEC chairman on Monday.
Trump announced Commissioner Mark Ueda as acting chief on his first day in office. Ueda has been highly critical of the agency’s approach to the digital assets industry and is an advocate for clear regulations for cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, XRP investment products recorded net inflows of $31 million, continuing their strong start to the year, according to CoinShares data. Increasingly positive flows have seen its flows rise since mid-November to $484 million without the participation of US investors.
The increased flows also indicate that spot XRP ETFs could be very successful if approved by the SEC. According to Standard Chartered Bank analysts, XRP ETFs could attract upwards of $4.3 billion to $8.4 billion within the first six to twelve months of launch.
Additionally, whale XRP transactions have seen a significant spike over the past 24 hours, indicating increased activity on the part of large holders.
Whale XRP transactions. Source: Santiment
While many attributed the rise to selling activity after XRP briefly fell below $3.00, its exchange reserve declined and net outflows increased, suggesting that whale transactions are leaning toward buying.
Net inflows of XRP. Source: Coinglas
The short decline was likely caused by the derivatives market, where open interest for XRP dropped from 2.34 billion XRP to 2.07 billion XRP in the past five days. However, XRP funding rates are starting to improve, reaching a six-week high of 0.0143%. This indicates increased confidence towards the potential of the remittance-based token in the long term.
XRP could rise to a new all-time high of $4.22
XRP saw $25.67 million worth of futures liquidations in the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data. The total value of liquidated long and short positions was $15.86 million and $9.81 million, respectively.
On the 8-hour chart, XRP is forming a flag after rising last week to break above the bull flag and its 2024 high of $2.90. If XRP holds $2.90 as a strong support, it could break its all-time high resistance at $3.55 and rise to $4.22. The level is obtained by measuring the height of the flagpole and dropping it upwards from the potential breakout point.
XRP/USDT 8-hour chart
However, a breakout of the $2.90 level could send XRP towards the $2.60 level, as evidenced by the 23.6% Fibonacci level, which lies just below the 50-day simple moving average (SMA).
Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic (Stoch) momentum indicators are above their neutral levels, indicating dominant upward pressure.
Closing the daily candlestick below $1.96 will invalidate the hypothesis.
