(Dec 2): XRP, a token linked to Ripple Labs Inc, has vaulted rivals to become the third-largest cryptocurrency in a US$100 billion (RM446.42 billion) rally. 

The token rose as much as 15% on Monday to US$2.50. In the process, its market capitalisation topped US$137 billion, up from less than US$30 billion on Nov 5, when Donald Trump emerged victorious in the US presidential election, according to CoinGecko data. 

Trump’s win has sparked a wave of speculative enthusiasm across crypto markets, with the president-elect expected to make good on pledges to nurture a favourable landscape for digital-asset firms in the US. Even against that backdrop, XRP’s rally is striking: in recent weeks, its market value has surpassed that of rivals Solana, and USDT — Tether’s stablecoin, the CoinGecko data show. 

Ripple Labs was sued in 2020 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which claimed the San Francisco-based company broke the law when it raised money by selling XRP without registering it as a security.

The agency under chair Gary Gensler later brought lawsuits against numerous digital-asset firms, including Coinbase Global Inc and Binance Holdings Ltd. On the campaign trail, Trump had vowed to fire Gensler, who now intends to step down in January, on the day the president-elect is due to be inaugurated. Trump has vowed to put in place friendly regulators, and also backs the creation of a US strategic Bitcoin stockpile. 

The crypto market has gained about US$1.2 trillion in market value since Trump’s election victory, CoinGecko data show. 

Market leader Bitcoin, which last month came close to US$100,000 for the first time, traded at US$96,244 as of 3:22pm on Monday in Singapore. Ether, the second largest token, changed hands at US$3,665.

Uploaded by Liza Shireen Koshy