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Payments-focused cryptocurrency XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) surged past $3 for the first time in 7 years on Wednesday in anticipation of a cryptocurrency-friendly SEC under the incoming Donald Trump administration.

What happened: XRP leaped over 8% in the last 24 hours to a market capitalization of $174 billion, surpassing stablecoin Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) to become the third-most valued cryptocurrency.

To put things into perspective, XRP currently has a larger market valuation than Wall Street-listed software giant Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR).

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The coin's trading volume soared 121% in the last 24 hours to $23.20 billion, becoming the fourth-most traded cryptocurrency after Tether and the heavyweights, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).

XRP's searing rally got it trending over the internet. According to Google Trends, search interest for the coin hit 100, indicating peak popularity.

Speculative interest rose, with Open Interest in XRP futures jumping nearly 15% to $7.32 billion, according to Coinglass. The Open Interest has nearly tripled since 2025 began.

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Why It Matters: The excitement stemmed from several bullish catalysts.

The expected pivot of the SEC from a "hostile" to a more accommodating stance under Trump, the potential approval of XRP spot exchange-traded funds,  and the launch of the RLUSD stablecoin by Ripple Labs.

Ripple Labs has been locked in a nearly four-year-long legal battle with the SEC over the status of XRP, and any change in the agency’s top leadership was viewed with optimism.

Meanwhile, the SEC formally filed an appeal late Wednesday to overturn a 2023 ruling that Ripple's programmatic sales of XRP to retail clients through exchanges did not violate any securities laws, as claimed by the regulator.

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