If you focused on it explosive Rise of Bitcoin (BTC -0.30%) After the US presidential election, you may have completely missed an even bigger breakthrough in the crypto market. XRP (XRP 14.09%) – the cryptocurrency formerly known as Ripple – has risen from a price of $0.52 on November 5th to $2.73 on December 2nd.

This is the highest level XRP has traded at in almost seven years. With its latest move, XRP has passed Solana And Connection becoming the third most valuable cryptocurrency in the world. So is now the time to buy XRP or is it already too late?

The regulatory clouds over XRP have cleared

There is a good reason why the value of XRP skyrocketed following the election of Donald Trump as the next US President. The Trump administration’s pro-crypto approach will have a huge positive impact on the future of Ripple Labs, the company behind the XRP crypto token.

For several years, Ripple has been locked in an epic legal battle with the SEC over whether it is a cryptocurrency or a security. However, with the Trump administration taking power, it looks like this lawsuit will disappear. The current head of the SEC, Gary Gensler, announced that he would soon resign. And there is growing consensus that the SEC may no longer be interested in taking regulatory action against Ripple.

Even better, the Trump administration is likely to establish the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the new lead crypto regulator. This is music to the ears of XRP investors. For years, the SEC has been considered an anti-crypto and anti-XRP fighter. So if the CFTC replaces the SEC in crypto-related regulatory duties, it would essentially give XRP a new chance to expand its US operations.

A new spot ETF for XRP?

The second big catalyst for XRP is the possible launch of a new spot price exchange-traded fund (ETF) as early as next year. On December 2, the New York-based investment firm Wisdom tree (WT -2.18%) was the next major financial institution to file with the SEC for a spot XRP ETF. This follows an ETF filing from 21Shares in November.

Both WisdomTree and 21Shares already have spot Bitcoin ETFs, so their decision to enter the ETF game with XRP is a positive sign. There is also increasing speculation about this BlackRock (BLK -0.26%) – the $10 trillion asset manager behind massive funds like that iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT -1.32%) – could be the next big name to file for a spot XRP ETF.

How high can XRP go?

The big question now is: How much higher can XRP go? In less than a month, XRP has broken all price support levels that technical analysts had set for it. At its current price of $2.73, XRP is theoretically within striking distance of its all-time high of $3.84, which it reached in January 2018.

However, it is difficult to say exactly how much XRP is really worth right now. The bullish case is that all of XRP’s regulatory issues are behind it. If a spot ETF is indeed approved by the SEC in 2025, it is very likely that XRP could fight its way back to the $3.84 level.

Image source: Getty Images.

However, the super bullish case for XRP suggests that price levels above $20 could be possible. That would be a more than seven-fold increase from today’s levels. Longtime trader Peter Brandt, for example, recently set a price target of $24 for XRP.

There are several factors that could push XRP to these stratospheric levels, including Ripple’s planned launch of a new stablecoin in December. If the launch is successful, Wall Street financial institutions will find it much easier to put their money to work within the XRP blockchain ecosystem.

Should you buy XRP?

Based on the above, it is easy to be optimistic about XRP’s future prospects. At the moment everything seems to be going its way.

My main concern is that XRP may have risen too far, too fast. If you think Bitcoin is overheating after rising 40% in the last 30 days, what do you think about XRP? Over the same period, it is up more than 400%.

So if you are thinking about investing in XRP, do your due diligence. It remains a highly speculative, highly volatile investment. If you are a long-time XRP investor, it is worth holding on to your position to see how much higher it can go. But if you’re new to XRP, you may have just missed one of the biggest post-election crypto rallies of all time.