XRP Hits a New All-time High at $3.39 After Nearly Seven Years
2025-01-17
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XRP reaches an all-time high of $3.39, surpassing its 2018 peak for the first time in nearly seven years. Ripple’s altcoin has gained over 15% today and 40% in January so far. 
XRP’s market cap is also nearly $193 billion, and it is currently the third-largest cryptocurrency, overtaking Tether, Solana, BNB, and many more.
XRP All-Time High is not $3.84 
The commonly cited XRP all-time high of $3.84 is considered misleading. In fact, it’s around $3.30 to $3.40. Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, has clarified that when accounting for these factors. 
Even though platforms like CoinMarketCap show XRP’s all-time high at $3.84, the altcoin was never available to buy or sell at this price. 
“That is often reported as the all-time high, but you could not actually sell XRP for $3.84 nor did you have to pay $3.84 to buy it. That number included inflated amounts due to the use of “official” currency exchange rates for Korean exchange rates,” wrote Ripple’s CTO David “JoelKatz” Schwartz. 
This misconception is due to the “Kimchi Premium.” It’s a phenomenon where crypto prices in South Korean markets trade at a significant premium compared to global markets. 
This discrepancy arises from capital controls and market inefficiencies within South Korea, leading to inflated local prices. When these higher prices are factored into global averages without adjustment, they can artificially elevate the perceived all-time high. 
“XRP Just hit new all time high of $3.38 after consolidating for 7 years. This is a massive breakout, $5-$10 targets are now open. This is a start of the altseason,” wrote influencer Ash Crypto.
XRP Marks a Historic Comeback with a New All-Time High
Over the past six years, XRP has underperformed in several bull markets. While Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana marked consecutive all-time highs, XRP struggled to even break past $1 since 2021. 
This was due to the SEC’s long-running lawsuit against the company. The SEC claims XRP is a security and that Ripple violated federal securities laws by failing to register the token sale. This lawsuit has severely impacted the altcoin’s growth throughout the year. 
However, since Donald Trump’s re-election in November 2024, XRP has found new life. There are several reasons behind this resurgence.
Trump’s upcoming presidency is highly anticipated to bring several pro-crypto regulations. The president-elect has promised to completely overhaul the SEC’s regulatory framework. 
Most importantly, Trump’s policies will focus on making US-based crypto companies stronger in the market. Ripple being one of the largest crypto entities in the US market, reinforced XRP’s credibility. 
Also, the current SEC chair Gary Gensler, who led the scrutiny against XRP, is set to resign in the coming week. The SEC already has a pro-crypto leader, Paul Atkins, ready to take the role.
At the same time, Ripple has constantly donated to Trump’s election campaign and inaugural committee, which suggests the company will be on the new government’s favorable side. 
“XRP has just reached a new 7-year high, crossing a $3.39 market value for the first time since January, 2018. With this rise, we have just seen 2,365 $100K+ XRP transactions in the latest 8-hour span, the highest spike since December 34rd. Total holders are also skyrocketing,” wrote Santiment.
Yesterday, the SEC appealed the district court’s decision that XRP sales to retail investors did not qualify as securities. However, the crypto community sees this as one last attempt from the regulator to disrupt the company before the administration changes next week. 
It’s widely anticipated that the SEC under Paul Atkins will drop this lawsuit, which could trigger another potential hyperbolic bull run for the altcoin. 
For now, the XRP community is extremely bullish after today’s all-time high. 