XRP is the best-performing asset in the crypto top 50 by market capitalization, with a gain of more than 13% on the day. As a result, the cross-border payment token reached an intraday high of $2.87 during trading in Asia on Wednesday morning.

XRP has neared its peak from this cycle, which was close to a 7-year high and is currently around 17% away from its all-time high, following a slight pullback to $2.80 at the time of writing.

Over the past fortnight, XRP has gained around 33%, while the rest of the altcoins have lost ground.

XRP Whales Accumulating

On Jan. 15, Santiment reported that the move was being supported by “continued enormous accumulation from wallets holding 1 million to 10 million XRP.”

These whales own over 37% more coins than they did two months ago, it added before stating that this equated to approximately $3.8 billion in XRP added since their accumulation began on November 12.

XRP investors are pleased to see the #3 market cap asset reach $2.69 today for the first time since December 17, 2024. This is being supported by continued enormous accumulation from wallets holding 1M-10M XRP, who own over 37% more coins than they did 2 months ago… pic.twitter.com/G3a3N5iSAS

In a separate post on X on Jan. 15, Santiment said that there was increased optimism over the asset’s potential use in banking and financial transactions before adding:

“There are predictions of significant price increases and market cap growth, as well as speculation surrounding potential ETF approvals that could lead to substantial investments in XRP.”

XRPs market capitalization is currently $160 billion, which ranks it third among all crypto assets but still a long way behind Ethereum and Bitcoin.

Nevertheless, the Securities and Exchange Commission has refused to postpone the filing of a brief as part of the agency’s appeal of a judgment against the fintech firm.

Ripple’s chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty said it was a “waste of time and taxpayer dollars” since Gary Gensler’s war on crypto was ending with him stepping down next week.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse concurred, adding that Gensler was “very much on brand” and fully committed to his “failed regulation-by-enforcement agenda to the bitter, bitter end.”

Gensler, very much on brand completely dismissive of the 2024 election and the American public fully commits to his failed ‘regulation-by-enforcement agenda to the bitter, bitter end. #Sad https://t.co/1FEzB8d13o

Other Altcoins Outperforming

Dogecoin (DOGE) was also performing well, with a 5% gain to top $0.36, while Cardano (ADA) made 6% on the day to reclaim the $1 level. Meanwhile, Ripple sibling Stellar Lumens (XLM) spiked 8% to tap $0.47.

AI-related tokens got a boost from a recent report by Franklin Templeton, predicting that AI agents would revolutionize social media content generation this year.