Donald Trump turns pro-XRP, shares Ripple Labs reports on Truth Social

US President Donald Trump shared two articles about XRP on Truth Social on Tuesday. The articles discussed Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s claims that the company has seen increased hiring and business opportunities in the US since Trump’s election victory in November.

The articles, originally published by Coindesk and The Block in early January, reported that 75% of Ripple’s current job openings are now US-based. CEO Brad Garlinghouse had also shared the info through a post on X, calling the new administration’s change of heart towards crypto the “Trump effect.”

Trump’s posts on Truth Social garnered over 10,000 likes and 400 replies, with XRP enthusiasts saying the US President has “angered” Bitcoin maxis for publicly supporting Ripple’s cause.

Supporters predict a good year for Ripple

Before the November US elections, Ripple Labs and Donald Trump’s relationship was nothing more than shaky; the latter was a known donor of over $10 million to the presidential campaign of Trump’s competitor, former Vice President Kamala Harris.

As reported by Cryptopolitan, some unverified sources say Ripple executives spent months asking to meet the president at his residence in Mar-a-Lago to mend the relationship. 

Moreover, per an Axios exclusive, a source familiar with the matter claims President Trump hauled some words at Brad and his team during their January 8 “closed meeting.”

“When I needed you, where the f**k were you? You weren’t with me, and maybe you were with her,” referring to Harris, whom he defeated, “You guys made this amount of money last year, and you’re gonna make so much more now because of me.”

Some crypto community members speculated that during that meeting, Trump and the executives verbally agreed to push Ripple, RLUSD, and XRP as the top choices for digital currency services in America.

Despite the buzz surrounding Trump’s endorsement, XRP’s price remained largely unchanged, trading at $2.57, per Coingecko data. However, trading volume saw a sharp 2% increase over the past 24 hours, reaching $5 billion.

Ripple vs. SEC may soon come to an end

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s founded Department of Government Efficiency announced on Monday that it will be auditing the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the coming days. The regulatory agency has been at the center of a high-profile legal battle with Ripple that started in December 2020 over allegations that XRP was sold as an unregistered security.

The company insists that its operations in the US were largely hindered by the SEC’s lawsuit, and are hoping Trump’s administration will help throw out the case before the year ends.

In July 2023, US District Judge Analisa Torres gave Ripple a partial “sigh of relief,” ruling that the company’s retail XRP sales did not violate any security laws but did say the token was offered to institutions as securities.

The SEC, under former Chair Gary Gensler, appealed parts of the ruling, seeking a more definitive win against Ripple and causing the case to drag on to date. 

Some industry observers speculate that the SEC, now under interim pro-crypto leader Mark Uyeda, could withdraw its appeal or reach a financial settlement to finally end the legal battle.

Rising hopes for an XRP ETF approval

On Tuesday, expectations for an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) went up after the SEC formally acknowledged another filing made by Cboe BZX to list 21Shares’ XRP ETF. The regulatory agency also acknowledged filings from the New York Stock Exchange for Grayscale and Bitwise, who had submitted an application for an XRP ETF in early October.

While these acknowledgments do not guarantee eventual approval, they are seen as positive steps toward bringing XRP into the ETF market. SEC has now begun the 240-day mandated review timeline for these investment vehicles, expected to end in October 2025.

Decentralized betting platform Polymarket now places the odds of an XRP ETF approval in 2025 at nearly 78%, up from the 64% seen about a month ago. 

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