XRP Hits 4-Month High Amid Bitcoin Rally, Retail Traders Eye Breakout Beyond $3 Level

Ripple’s native token XRP (XRP) continued to rally on Friday, hitting a 4-month high of $2.90, even as Bitcoin (BTC) pared gains after hitting a record high of over $118,000. 

XRP’s price had gained more than 12% at the time of writing, trading at around $2.80 and leading gains among altcoins. On Stockwits, retail sentiment around XRP jumped to ‘extremely bullish’ territory from ‘bullish’ a week ago, marking its highest level since January, earlier this year. It was also the top trending ticker on the platform.

Analysis of chatter on Stocktwits revealed that the surge in XRP’s price was fueled by speculation that the token might finally surpass the psychological threshold of $3. Some users even predicted that the cryptocurrency could breach its all-time high of $3.40, seen seven years ago. XRP’s price is currently trading 17% below that level.

The surge in XRP followed Bitcoin’s back-to-back record highs, with the leading cryptocurrency crossing $112,000 on Thursday and $118,000 on Friday morning. However, the token was already on the rise Wednesday, hitting a month-high, after Ripple announced that Bank of New York Mellon (BK) would be the primary custodian for its U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD (RLUSD).

The news comes just a week after Ripple reportedly applied for a national banking license with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. If approved, the license would subject Ripple to direct federal oversight, enabling it to expand its services. 

While there are currently no spot XRP ETFs trading in the U.S., Franklin Templeton and other issuers have filed for ETFs with the SEC.

XRP’s price has soared more than 22% this year and 525% over the past 12 months. 

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Read also: Bitcoin Tops $118,000, Triggers Record $1.1 Billion in Short Liquidations