finbold.com
The departure of Gary Gensler from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has coincided with a powerful rally in $XRP, the cryptocurrency at the heart of a long-standing legal battle with the regulator he once led.
On January 20, 2025, the day Gensler officially stepped down as SEC Chair, $XRP was trading at $2.95. As of July 18, the token has surged to $3.41, marking a 15.42% gain over six months.
That means a $1,000 investment in $XRP on the day Gensler exited the SEC is now worth $1,154, netting a return of $154 in just under 180 days.
This follows months of bullish momentum that began building after Gensler’s resignation announcement back in November 2024, when $XRP was trading around $1.10. From that November 21 price level, $XRP has now climbed over 209%.
$XRP trading volume
In parallel, $XRP’s trading volume has remained elevated. Over the last 24 hours, the token saw $22.81 billion in trading activity, up 91% compared to the previous day while its market cap has topped $201.8 billion, placing it firmly as the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, behind only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
On-chain data from Santiment and Ali Martinez recently showed that whales holding between 100 million and 1 billion $XRP have been aggressively adding to their positions, driving both price and market cap upward.
Moreover, $XRP’s price action since January shows a breakout from months of consolidation, firmly decoupling from broader crypto stagnation and rising nearly 490% year-over-year.
While correlation doesn’t equal causation, the timing of Gensler’s resignation and $XRP’s subsequent price surge has not gone unnoticed by market watchers. With the SEC’s posture toward digital assets now in flux and the broader market continuing to rally, many investors view $XRP as a strategic bet on regulatory normalization and institutional acceptance.
As of July 18, $XRP is trading at $3.41, just under its all-time high of $3.84 set in January 2018. If the current momentum holds and ETF optimism spreads beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, $XRP may soon challenge its historical peak, making that $1,000 bet from January look even smarter in hindsight.