• XRP recorded its ATH 3 years ago on 11th Jan, 2018, but the current bullish trend for XRP looks strong to beat it.
• XRP’s biggest setback came when it was delisted from Coinbase and Binance, two of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges during late 2020/early 2021.
• According to many analysts, the current XRP run seems to be purely technical. Will it be enough to achieve a new ATH?

For the first time in 37 months, XRP has surpassed the $1 value, placing it at around $47 billion in terms of market valuation. The fourth-largest cryptocurrency in the global market, despite allegations of being sold illegally as security, has broken out against the Bitcoin (BTC) pair.

Kaleo, a noted cryptocurrency trader, commented that XRP’s breaking out rings in the good news. “XRP is about to break out of a 3+ year downtrend. Zero exposure here seems irresponsible. When this sh*to starts to pump, it makes vertical moves (aka all at once for a burst). Still very early,” he noted.

What is Driving the XRP’s Rally?

The value surge for XRP is mostly technical. When it was hovering at around $0.75, cryptocurrency traders had noted that its market structure was bullish. Cantering Clark, a leading cryptocurrency derivatives trader, had commented that XRP has all the right technical components for a rally.

“Not for nothing, XRP technically has all necessary taken all necessary strides to be bullish. After the exchange de-listings and write-off by most of CT, this essentially left the market short from both a positional and side-lined standpoint. This can move much higher.”

The second catalyst behind XRP’s technical thrust seems to be its expanding social volume. Crypto-data analysts at Santiment noted that XRP has been giving other cryptocurrencies stiff competition in social volume. They said, “Most altcoins have been maintaining their upward trajectory to start the week, with no greater surge among top 100 assets than what we have seen from STX, which is seeing a 5-month high in social volume. Other spikes include XRP, XTZ, FTM, and BTG.”

Given the present technical structure of XRP remains constant and the social volume keeps increasing, XRP’s momentum could reach the major resistance area soon, at around $1.20 with a macro sell-wall at $2. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $1.173 against the USD.

What the Ripple CTO had to Say

Ripple CTO David Schwartz, in his recent appearance during “First Mover”, was reluctant to offer firm reasons for the surge. However, he noted that the rumours of a relisting of XRP by Coinbase “might have triggered some upward movement.” He added that “the hearing in the case where Ripple was granted access to SEC documents…might have impacted the price.” However, he also reiterated that “there’s no way to know.”

Ripple is a privately-owned company credited with developing the cryptocurrency XRP and the RippleNet network. The payment settlement platform was recently caught in a controversy over illegal selling of XRP as security after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated action alleging the company and two of its executives of violating security laws in selling XRP to customers.