Ripple’s interest in XRP increased when Brad Garlinghouse met with Donald Trump

Ripple’s XRP, the biggest gainer among major cryptocurrencies since the US presidential election in November, surged further on Wednesday after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderotti dined with President-elect Donald Trump.

“Great dinner last night… a strong start to 2025,” Garlinghouse wrote on X along with a picture of him and Alderoti Trump.

The token is up about 2% in the last 24 hours, compared to a roughly 2.5% drop for bitcoin and the broader CoinDesk 20 index. Since Trump’s victory, it has risen more than 300%, easily outperforming all other major cryptos. Another massive beneficiary of the election, such as dogecoin (DOGE), “only” doubled.

Aurelie Bartere, chief research analyst at Nansen, said crypto investors are looking for new developments to “fuel the bull”. This includes reports of cooling US inflation and labor markets, or directions for future policies from the Trump administration. Until there is more clarity, he expects markets to remain calm.

“We expect sustained easing in the US labor market, which should help crypto, including the price of XRP, which is covering US tariffs and participating in the same move. (…) “Ripple’s CEO meeting with Trump ahead of his inauguration is definitely a sign of growth,” according to Bartere.

Ripple president Monica Long, a potential XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF). he said he expects to leave the US this year also boosted the token’s value, as did the firm’s US dollar stablecoin, RLUSD, received regulatory approval in December. On Wednesday, the stablecoin was listed on the Bitstamp crypto exchange.

“We are seeing a bias towards buying XRP from our franchise this week, mainly from retail brokers and crypto-national funds,” said Zahreddin Tuag, head of trading at Paris-based market maker Voorton. “This may be due to positive news coming out of the Ripple fund recently, namely the potential XRP ETF listing and the launch of the RLUSD stablecoin.”