XRP, the controversial Ripple-linked cryptocurrency, has climbed to fifth place by market capitalization, according to data from CoinGecko.

In terms of market capitalization, it has surpassed BNB, the native token of cryptocurrency giant Binance. The two cryptocurrencies are currently worth $96.7 billion and $96 billion, respectively.

XRP is now on the verge of approaching the highly coveted $100 billion club.

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As reported by U.Today, XRP rose well over 200% in November, recording its best-performing month since December 2017.

On Friday, the token managed to clear the key resistance level at $1.60 and continued its rally.

At press time, XRP is changing hands at $1.7, its highest level since April 2021.

The XRP token is rallying strongly as speculation mounts that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will drop the Ripple lawsuit following the impending leadership change. As U.Today reported, Chris Giancarlo, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), recently stated that he would “bet” on such a scenario.

XRP, which was briefly the second-largest cryptocurrency in 2018, almost fell out of the top 10 after the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple in late 2020. Now that the crypto industry has defeated SEC Chairman Gensler, XRP has returned to the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. However, it is still 50% below its long-term lifetime high of $3.4, reached in January 2018.