The past few weeks have been quite eventful for Ripple and its native token, XRP. In this article, we’ll review the most recent updates and analyze the asset’s price dynamics. 

Is the Legal Battle Against the SEC Over?

The lawsuit between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been among the hottest topics in the crypto industry for years. Over the past several months there were numerous developments which brought the case closer to its long-anticipated final. 

Long story short, in March, Ripple’s CEO claimed that the SEC had dropped the appeal against the company. Earlier this month, the two sides shook hands on a $50 million settlement, which would mean the official end of the tussle if the judge on the case approves it. 

This represents a significant reduction from the $125 million fine that Ripple was previously ordered to pay for allegedly breaking certain securities laws. 

The XRP Army celebrated the latest move, but some members of the agency seemed unhappy. SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, for instance, argued that this ruling undermines the previous one and discredits the watchdog’s enforcement program.  

“The settlement joins a line of dismissals that collectively erode the credibility of our lawyers in court who are being asked to take legal positions today contrary to the ones taken just months ago. And it stands in defiant contravention of the doctrine of (the) regularity of government affairs,” she added.

XRP ETF on the Way?

The introduction of the first spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States has been a mission for multiple well-known companies, including Grayscale, 21Shares, Bitwise, WisdomTree, and others. 

Not long ago, the SEC delayed its decision on Bitwise’s application, extending the period to June 17. The community has now shifted its attention toward July 2, which marks the final deadline for the SEC’s decision on Grayscale’s proposal to convert its Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC), which includes XRP, among other cryptocurrencies, into a spot ETF.

The launch of such a financial vehicle will give investors additional options to gain exposure to Ripple’s cross-border token, which might positively impact its price. According to Polymarket, the odds of the product seeing the light of day before the end of the year are close to 80%.

While a spot version is still not live in the US, Teucrium and ProShares recently received the green light to launch futures-based XRP ETFs in the world’s biggest economy. Those curious to check all developments on that front can take a look at our detailed article here. 

RLUSD Gains Traction

Ripple made the headlines last year when it announced its plans to design a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the American dollar. The product, dubbed RLUSD, went live in mid-December and was initially embraced by leading crypto exchanges such as Uphold, Bitso, Bitstamp, Moonpay, and more. 

In the following months, other popular industry players followed suit. For instance, Kraken allowed trading services with RLUSD in April. 

Most recently, the US-based Gemini also hopped on the bandwagon. The exchange, led by the Winklevoss twins, enabled deposits and withdrawals approximately a week ago. 

While RLUSD has made some serious progress in recent months, it still lags behind the big names in the niche. As of this writing, it has a market capitalization of just north of $315 million, while the leaders, USDT and USDC, have $150 billion and $60 billion, respectively. 

XRP Price Outlook

Ripple’s native cryptocurrency was at the forefront of gains yesterday (May 12), with its price soaring to a two-month peak of almost $2.70. In the following hours, it retraced to the current $2.54 (per CoinGecko’s data).

Its impressive surge caught the eye of multiple analysts, some of whom envisioned a further upswing in the short term. The X user, Captain Faibik, predicted a pump to $5, citing a falling wedge pattern breakout. 

Crypto Patel reminded that XRP has surpassed the $2 support zone. “If price holds above this level, we could see a move toward $3.28 and eventually $10+,” they added. 

Meanwhile, Ali Martinez estimated that “on-chain data shows XRP has no major resistance clusters ahead,” suggesting the “up only” path could be in play. 

Bitcoin (BTC) has continued to flash bullish signals, with on-chain data and technical indicators reinforcing the narrative of an ongoing uptrend despite minor short-term pullbacks.

At the heart of this optimism is the rise in the flagship cryptocurrency’s realized price, a key market metric that reflects the average purchase price of BTC currently in circulation.

Realized Price Signals Sustained Bullish Momentum

According to an analysis by CryptoQuant contributor Crypto Dan, the realized price is climbing steadily, a trend that typically comes before bullish momentum rather than market downturns.

“The reason the realized price is rising is that more and more market participants are purchasing Bitcoin at higher prices,” Dan explained, describing the ongoing increase as “evidence that Bitcoin is still in an uptrend within its current cycle.”

He attributed much of this upward movement to institutional inflows through spot BTC ETFs and corporations like Strategy, which recently bought 13,390 BTC for more than $1.3 billion. Others like Metaplanet have also contributed, acquiring 1,271 BTC for about $126.7 million.

This steady capital inflow has not just buoyed sentiment but is tangibly pushing on-chain metrics higher.

Also complementing this trend is a historic shift in Bitcoin’s supply dynamics. Data from Glassnode shows that the cryptocurrency’s illiquid supply, held by entities that rarely sell, has hit a cycle high of 14 million BTC.

It means that long-term holders are locking up their stash and reducing market liquidity, with Santiment reporting that whales have accumulated an additional 83,000 BTC in the last month. Observers often view this hoarding behavior as a sign that investors are confident prices will appreciate in the future.

Bitcoin Closing in on ATH

The technical picture further echoes this bullishness. CQ analyst Crazzyblockk recently revealed that the Binance Taker Buy-Sell Ratio remains elevated, indicating consistent buying pressure, while funding rates on major exchanges have stayed positive.

Pseudonymous analyst Mr. Wall Street has even forecast that BTC could push as high as $200,000 before the end of this market cycle.

Presently, Bitcoin is trading at around $103,468, a slight 0.9% drop from yesterday’s price, having oscillated between an intraday high of $104,536 and a low of $101,109 per CoinGecko data.

The small dent hasn’t taken much away from BTC’s almost 10% gain in the last seven days and nearly 22% jump over the past month. Additionally, it is up more than 64% on a yearly scale, and edging ever closer to its all-time high of $108,786, which exceeds the current price by less than 5%.

TL;DR

• ETH surged substantially in the past weeks, with analysts eyeing $2,800–$12,000 as potential targets, comparing its rebound to BTC’s post-COVID rally.

• SOL climbed 20% weekly, with over 11 million wallets now holding 0.1+ SOL – suggesting rising retail interest that could fuel a further pump.

What’s Next for ETH?

The second-largest cryptocurrency stole the show in the past several days, with its valuation rising by almost 40% on a seven-day scale. Earlier this week, it crossed $2,600, the highest point since late February. In the last 24 hours, it witnessed a slight retracement and currently trades at just south of $2,500.

ETH’s strong rebound has sparked widespread excitement in the crypto space, with numerous X users speculating that the rally is just getting started. For instance, the analyst with the moniker CRYPTOWZRD envisioned a further upside toward the resistance of $2,800. 

“Once Bitcoin regains confidence, Ethereum should see a quick upside move towards $2,800 and beyond,” they added.

Crypto Tony and Reed Carson also weighed in. The former claimed that a breakout above $2,750 could push the price to levels not seen since last year. Reed Carson argued that ETH’s dump below $1,400 in April was very similar to BTC’s crash under $4,000 during the COVID-19 crisis in the spring of 2020. 

They believe that in both cases, the plunge resulted from economic uncertainty and panic selling. The analyst reminded of BTC’s price explosion in the following years, predicting that ETH can follow a similar path and hit $10,000 or even $12,000 by the peak of the bull cycle. 

Another X user who gave his two cents is the well-known analyst Michael van de Poppe. He expects “shallow corrections” but sees such a scenario as a buying opportunity:

“If the markets provide a correction, then I’d be interested in anything between $2,100-2,250 for ETH.”

SOL’s Targets

Solana’s SOL has also caught the recent green wave in the crypto sector, albeit charting less substantial gains than ETH. As of this writing, it trades at roughly $174, representing a 20% weekly increase.

Among those touching upon the asset’s next potential targets was KALEO. The X user told his almost 700,000 followers that SOL is “slowly but surely grinding higher.” 

“I still believe this move back from the lows results in a god candle that sends straight to new all-time highs sooner rather than later,” they claimed.

Just a few days ago, the analyst forecasted that Solana’s price could explode to a staggering $1,000.

For his part, Ali Martinez recently said that SOL has reached “a critical resistance area” at $175. He also revealed that the number of wallets holding at least 0.1 tokens has surged past 11 million in the past two weeks. 

The development signals that more people have entered the ecosystem. The low threshold of just 0.1 SOL suggests that many of the newcomers could be retail investors, potentially acting as a precursor to a further price rally.