XRP Token (XRP) Soars 36% in the Last Week, Seeks to Join Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs

The cryptocurrency XRP Token XRP/USD from Ripple is soaring in price over the last week with a new filing for an XRP exchange-traded fund adding to optimism for the crypto.

Asset manager WisdomTree is taking steps towards launching a potential XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The move comes as other companies, like Bitwise, have also filed to launch cryptocurrency ETFs.

With Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs already approved, cryptocurrency experts see ETFs based on other top 10 cryptos by market capitalization like Solana, Dogecoin and XRP as the next to be approved.

The issuer of XRP, Ripple Labs, has been involved in several regulatory issues with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the past, which could impact the approval of the ETFs and has also impacted the price of XRP in the past.

As SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is set to resign in January and a new pro-crypto White House administration is potentially taking shape, some see past cases against cryptocurrency companies quietly going away.

In July 2023, Ripple received a favorable ruling in a case dating to 2020.

U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres determined the sale of the XRP token by Ripple is not an offer of "investment contracts." The ruling came after Ripple spent a significant amount of money fighting claims that XRP was a security.

Torres said that some assets can serve as an investment contract, including digital tokens. In the case of the XRP token, it is not a security, according to the ruling.

Along with the ruling, the judge found Ripple's sales of XRP to institutions to be in violation of the Securities Act. This ruling could become a key item to watch for the cryptocurrency sector moving forward.

The case between the SEC and Ripple remains active, with the SEC appealing and having until January to submit additional filings.

Here's a look back at an investment in the XRP token when the lawsuit by the SEC was announced.

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If You Invested $1,000 in XRP: The XRP token hit a low of $0.41055 on Dec. 22, 2020, the day the charges were announced.

XRP would fall to a low of $0.1748 on Dec. 29, 2020, hitting new lows for the year. On that day, an investor could have purchased 5,720.82 XRP with $1,000.

The $1,000 investment would be worth $8,409.61 today, representing a gain of 741%.

The return of the hypothetical investment in XRP has outperformed the broader stock market.

The same $1,000 invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, which tracks the S&P 500 Index, would be worth $1,594.15 today, representing a gain of 59.4%.

XRP has traded between $0.3911 to $1.62 over the last year, with the yearly high hit in the last week. The 36% weekly gain for XRP is the second largest among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, trailing only Cardano (+39%).

While XRP has seen a sharp rise in the last week, the cryptocurrency remains well off of its all-time high of $3.84, which was set in January 2018.

This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.