The native token of the XRP Ledger rose more than 2% on Wednesday while most of the rest of the crypto sector saw steep losses.

Jan 8, 2025, 8:28 p.m. UTC

Already the largest gainer among major cryptos since the U.S. November presidential election, Ripple's XRP outperformed even more on Wednesday after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty dined with President-elect Donald Trump.

"Great dinner last night … Strong start to 2025," wrote Garlinghouse on X alongside a picture of him and Alderoty with Trump.

The token is higher by about 2% over the past 24 hours versus roughly 2.5% declines for bitcoin and the broader CoinDesk 20 Index. Since the Trump victory, it's skyrocketed more than 300%, easily outpacing all of the other major cryptos. Another massive beneficiary of the election, dogecoin (DOGE), for instance, has "only" about doubled.

Crypto investors are looking for new developments to “fuel the bull,” said Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at Nansen. This would include news that U.S. inflation and the labor markets are cooling, or directions on the Trump administration's future policies. Until there's further clarity, though, she expects markets will be choppy.

“We expect ongoing softening in the U.S. labor market that should put a lid on U.S. rates and help crypto, including the XRP price, that is participating in the same move. [...] “Ripple's CEO meeting Trump before his inauguration is definitely a bullish sign,” according to Barthere.

A potential XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), which Ripple President Monica Long said she expects coming out of the U.S. this year has also fueled the price of the token, as well as the firm’s U.S. dollar stablecoin, RLUSD, received regulatory approval in December. Earlier on Wednesday, the stablecoin was listed on crypto exchange Bitstamp.

“We’re seeing a bias towards buying XRP from our franchise this week, mainly from retail brokers and crypto native funds,” said Zahreddine Touag, Head of Trading at Paris-based market market Woorton. “This could be because of the positive news lately coming out from the Ripple foundation, namely the potential XRP ETF listing and launch of the RLUSD stablecoin.”