TL;DR

XRP briefly surpassed $2.80, driven by the SECs acknowledgment of 21Shares XRP ETF application. Analysts predict further gains, with targets ranging from $2.94 to $3.03 if the price maintains momentum above key support levels.

The Rally Goes on

Ripples XRP has been at the forefront of gains in the past few days, outperforming most cryptocurrencies from the top 20 club. Its price charted another 8% increase on a 24-hour scale, briefly rising to a two-week high of $2.82 (per CoinGeckos data) before slightly retracing to the current $2.76. 

XRP Price, Source: CoinGecko The US SECs decision to acknowledge 21Shares application to convert its XRP Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is the most likely factor fueling the pump. 

Earlier this month, the securities regulator acknowledged a similar proposal filed by the worlds biggest digital asset manager Grayscale. 

The aforementioned developments mean the SEC has officially received the applications and started a formal review process, which usually lasts up to 240 days. In the end, the watchdog must either approve or deny the ETF filings.

A potential green light would give investors additional options to gain exposure to XRPs price movements, providing a level of protection and oversight. It also removes the burden of having to buy, store, or secure the cryptocurrency directly.

Meanwhile, a possible approval could also indicate that the SEC has embraced an entirely different approach toward the digital asset industry. Recall that the agency was not that friendly during Gary Genslers tenure, filing countless lawsuits against crypto businesses such as Ripple. 

The former Chairman resigned on January 20 and was succeeded by Mark Uyeda, who seems much more open to innovation and positive toward the cryptocurrency industry. 

XRPs Next Potential Targets

According to multiple market observers, the assets price has much more room for growth. The X user CRYPTOWZRD noted that XRP closed the previous day strongly bullish, expecting a further uptrend toward the $3.03 resistance target and beyond.

Others who recently contributed include Ali Martinez and EGRAG CRYPTO. The former predicted a rise to $3 as long as the price held steady above $2.30. 

The latter suggested that a strong close above $2.75 could result in a local high of $2.94. Remember, anything below $3.40 is merely noise in the market, the analyst added.