Gary Gensler has officially stepped down from his role as Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). His departure marks the end of a contentious tenure, which saw him spearhead a wave of lawsuits against major crypto companies.
As news of Gensler's departure spread on Friday, XRP, the native token of Ripple, soared to $3.27. The bullish momentum was further amplified by the formation of a pennant pattern on XRP's weekly price chart—a technical indicator that often signals strong upward trends.
Together with XRP's technical strength and the anticipation of reduced regulatory pressure under the Trump administration, traders and investors remain optimistic about XRP's future price performance. Some analysts have set ambitious short-term price targets, ranging from $5 to $20.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan analysts are speculating on the potential impact of an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF). They estimate that XRP ETFs could attract inflows of $3 billion to $8 billion, assuming adoption rates comparable to Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, which captured 6% and 3% of their market caps, respectively, in their early months.
The approval of XRP ETFs would not only enhance liquidity but also facilitate the token's adoption across mainstream financial markets. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $3.27, up 39.71% over the past week. Its market cap has surged to $188.16 billion, with a 24-hour trading volume of $13.8 billion.
As Gensler's era at the SEC comes to a close, Ripple's legal battle against the regulator over XRP sales continues. The SEC has appealed a 2023 court ruling that XRP sales to retail investors did not violate securities laws. The regulator maintains that all XRP transactions, including those sales, constitute investment contracts under the Howey Test.
