Two Analysts Evaluated the Explosive Rally of XRP!

XRP, President-elect Donald Trump emerged as the biggest beneficiary of his crypto-friendly promises and ignited a major rally that left investors debating its future trajectory.

Since the election, XRP has risen by 370%, surpassing Bitcoin's 46% increase as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index and the broader crypto market's 93% gain. This significant surge has propelled XRP to become the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surpassing Solana.

Matt Hougan, the chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management, attributes XRP's rise to changing regulatory sensitivity. Hougan told CNBC, "XRP was the asset that led the pack and faced regulatory issues," and added, "So, if we move to regulatory support elements, it seemed almost by definition that it should provide the most benefit, which seemed like a rational response."

XRP supporters see the rally following Ripple's long legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a vindication. Last summer, a judge ruled that XRP was not a security when sold to individual investors on exchanges, but was considered an unregistered security when sold to institutional investors. Please provide the source language text to be translated. Established in 2012, XRP, which Ripple uses for its cross-border payment business operating outside the US, is the native token of XRP Ledger, an open-source blockchain that operates 95% of Ripple's business outside the US.

Despite its technological advantages, XRP has faced skepticism about its market potential. Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, referred to XRP as a "boom from the past" and criticized the lack of clarity on product-market fit. "Despite a lot of marketing, there has never been a clear product market fit," Thorn said, adding that XRP is trading at valuations "well above some of the big companies" without significant real-world use cases.

Critics of XRP say it is not sufficiently adopted in business applications, while supporters like Hougan emphasize its unique consensus mechanism that consumes less energy and is more cost-effective than Bitcoin's proof-of-work or Ethereum's proof-of-stake systems. Hougan also praised XRP's ability to maintain community interest throughout the boom and bust cycles of the crypto.