XRP was one of the leaders of the bullish trend in the cryptocurrency market that began last November. However, recently its upward trajectory appears to have stalled.
As of the time of writing, XRP was trading at $2.63, reflecting a 24.44% increase year-to-date (YTD).
The momentum of the digital asset significantly slowed in early February due to tariffs imposed by President Trump, after which XRP fell below the key level of $3, which now acts as resistance. Historically, February has been one of the worst months for XRP's performance. For comparison, at the end of January, the asset was trading at $3.03 and has since lost 13.2%.
Despite this setback, there are several positive factors. The market is anticipating a relatively swift conclusion to the years-long legal battle between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the resignation of its former chairman, Gary Gensler.
Additionally, CoinShares recently filed for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on XRP to be traded on NASDAQ, which could be a significant step towards wider adoption of the cryptocurrency.
The latest positive signal is the activity of XRP whales, who hold more than 1,000,000 tokens. They are not selling their assets; rather, they are accumulating them.