TL:DR;

• The two best performers from the larger-cap alts over the past few days have been Ripple’s XRP and Cardano’s ADA.
• Perplexity analyzes each token’s chance to reclaim the coveted $1 price tag by the end of the year.

XRP at $1

It seems fueled by the growing speculations that the current SEC chair, Gary Gensler, will step down from his position even before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January of next year. This could be regarded as bullish for XRP, given the agency’s ongoing four-year-long legal battle against the company behind it.

Although there’s no real indication of who might replace Gensler at the helm of the securities regulator, the community speculates that it will be someone pro-crypto. Or, it won’t be worse for the industry than the current administration, at the very least.

As such, XRP’s value has shot up in the past week by over 70% and earlier today neared $1 for the first time in more than a year. Given its current price tag of $0.95, it seems inevitable that it will reach $1 at some point, most likely in the near future.

The popular AI chatbot – Perplexity – indicated that most analysts believe XRP will tap that level as soon as today. Moreover, it noted that the asset could continue its rally and add another 50% by the end of the year, should the demand for it, as well as the FOMO levels, remain the same or increase.

Recent reports suggest that Ripple whales have been accumulating aggressively in recent weeks, pushing their overall XRP holdings to a 6.5-year high, meaning the demand is strong.

What About ADA?

Cardano’s native token has also been on the run lately, perhaps due to Charles Hoskinson’s revelation that he and the team will be a part of a dedicated team to work with Trump’s administration in order to create a more friendly regulatory landscape around the industry. Additionally, he hinted this week about some sort of a partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which could be behind ADA’s 20% daily surge to over $0.7.

ADA now needs to rise by 38% to reach the $1 target. Usually, that would sound a lot, but not in the current crypto environment. Many assets have surged by that amount in a matter of days alone. ADA is no exception, as its price has gained almost 70% in the past week.

Nevertheless, Perplexity believes XRP has a higher chance of doing so, which is expected given the two assets’ current prices.

“While there has been some recent upward movement in ADA’s price, analysts are less optimistic about it reaching $1 by year-end compared to XRP, given its current price trajectory and required growth percentage.”

After a brief hiatus below $90,000 and even $87,000, bitcoin is back on track by gaining more than four grand in the past day and surging past $91,000.

Many altcoins have produced even more impressive daily surges, led by double-digit gains from the likes of XRP, ADA, PEPE, SUI, ICP, XLM, and many others.

BTC Above $91K

The primary cryptocurrency had another big week as it skyrocketed from $80,000 on Monday to nearly $94,000 on Wednesday to chart a fresh peak. After this massive rally, it was somewhat expected that it will cool off and retrace.

This happened on Friday as the asset fell below $90,000, and the bears kept pushing it to under $$87,000. However, it bounced off almost immediately and challenged the $90,000 level by the end of the day. It managed to reclaim it on Saturday morning and surged even further to over $91,000 where it currently stands as well.

At the same time, on-chain information shows that the asset’s bull run is far from over, at least according to the growing stablecoin going to exchanges and the declining BTC reserves on trading platforms.

With its increase past $91,000, bitcoin’s market cap has reclaimed the $1.8 trillion line. Its dominance over the alts also stands tall at just over 57% on CG.

Double-Digit Alts

The more volatile by nature altcoins have produced bigger gains over the past days. Their rally is led by XRP and ADA, both of which have soared by more than 20% in the past day. Here’s the potential reason behind ADA’s massive increase.

Other double-digit price gainers include PEPE, NEAR, ICP, XLM, BONK, HBAR, KAS, WIF, MANTRA, and many others.

In contrast, the larger-cap alts like ETH, BNB, DOGE, and TON have increased by up to 3%. SOL has surged by 5%, while TRX is up by 6%.

The total crypto market cap has skyrocketed by over $100 billion and is up to $3.160 trillion on CG.

The cryptocurrency market went through a somewhat painful correction yesterday, but most assets are back in the green today.

Cardano’s native token has emerged as one of the top performers, surging by more than 20% and exceeding $0.75 earlier today for the first time since March this year. This places the asset’s weekly gains at almost 70%, even though it has retraced slightly to $0.72 as of now.

Hoskinson to Blame?

With most of the market either with minor gains or with slight retraces, when a certain asset defies the odds and explodes by double digits, it raises questions about the potential reason behind it. In this case, the most obvious one comes from IOG’s founder, Charles Hoskinson.

During the latest video he published on X, he hinted about something big. Hoskinson said he went to California to spend some time with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. After praising the team for the work they have done and their dedication, he said that both parties discussed “some things” but have signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and he still cannot talk more about it.

Nevertheless, he promised to do so in the future when he can. Although he failed to provide even the slightest details, his words caught the attention of the community, with many sharing the post and speculating about the potential meaning and impact for Cardano and ADA.

Consequently, this seems to be the most probable reason behind ADA’s daily surge. Recall what happened last weekend when the asset exploded after Hoskinson said he will work with the Trump administration to release a more comprehensive and friendlier crypto policy in the States.

The Best Community?

In a separate post, Hoskinson praised Cardano’s community after reposting a success story by the creator of TapTool. In it, IOG’s founder highlighted Cardano’s growing ecosystem, indicating that it has “the best community and the best entrepreneurs.”

When people ask why cardano, this is why. We have the best community and the best entrepreneurs. It’s a harder road, but it will change the world. I’m proud of them all, and with Voltaire, they will make the finest government ever assembled by humanity https://t.co/ArXrSJOFoi

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) November 16, 2024