Yesterday, Ripple's (XRP) price jumped to its highest level since July 2023. Why? There are rumors that SEC Chair Gary Gensler might resign soon. This news made XRP the top gainer among the leading cryptocurrencies.
On November 14, XRP was trading around $0.69 when Gensler's comments about crypto caught everyone's attention. He stated that the SEC's actions against Coinbase, Ripple, and Binance are meant to protect investors. But his closing remarks, where he thanked his colleagues, sparked speculation about his potential resignation.
Gensler's term officially ends in June 2025. However, rumors of him leaving early aren't surprising. Newly elected President Donald Trump has promised to remove him due to his anti-crypto stance. This statement resonated with XRP holders who have been affected by the ongoing Ripple vs. SEC case since 2020. As a result, XRP's price climbed to $0.80, a level not seen since July 2023, when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that the token isn't a security.
But there’s more to the story. XRP's rise to $0.80 was also fueled by significant accumulation by crypto whales. According to Santiment, these whales have gathered about 3.44 billion XRP tokens over the past two years. This means wallets holding at least 1 million XRP have reached their highest token count in 65 months.
At the current price of $0.80, this whale accumulation represents $2.75 billion. That’s a lot of buying pressure, and it’s pushing the altcoin higher. If this trend continues, XRP's price might go even higher.
XRP has seen a 45% increase in the last week. This could also be linked to Robinhood's decision to list the token. On the daily chart, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) remains positive. The MACD is a tool that shows the relationship between two moving averages of an asset’s price. It helps traders gauge whether the momentum is bullish or bearish.
Right now, the positive MACD suggests bullish momentum for XRP. If this keeps up, the price may reach $0.85. But if crypto whales start selling in large numbers, that could change everything. In that case, XRP might drop to $0.63.