XRP rockets past $3 again – ATH comeback in sight?

Amid quite a few developments in the cryptocurrency sphere, XRP has skyrocketed past $3 for the first time since late July, getting closer to breaking the all-time high (ATH) of $3.65 and leaving many to wonder what has brought on the positive momentum and whether it will stay.

Indeed, XRP is currently trading at the price of $3.33, which indicates an increase of as much as 11.43% on the day, adding up to the 13.73% advance across the week, the growth of 42.81%, and an impressive climb of 442.17% on its monthly chart, per the CoinMarketCap information on August 8.

Why is XRP past $3 again?

As it happens, there are many reasons that have possibly contributed to such a strong rise, starting with positive developments in Asia, which have seen major adoption in South Korea as crypto custodian BDACS launched institutional custody support for XRP on August 5.

Then, news broke out that Japan’s largest banking group, SBI Holdings, is planning to launch the country’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF) tied to both Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP, giving the token another massive boost. However, the conglomerate has recently denied reports it had filed for the ETF.

Momentum remains

That said, the factors that helped XRP retain its super-positive momentum have more to do with the legal battle between XRP issuer Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over selling the token that has dragged on for a lot longer than many have expected.

Notably, the two parties have informed the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that they were voluntarily dismissing their respective appeals of a 2023 ruling in the case, stating they would each bear their own costs, according to the filing shared by Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, on August 7.

Although this has heralded the official end of the years-long courtroom standoff, former SEC chief of staff and adviser in the US House and Senate, Amanda Fischer, has stirred the pot by downplaying claims that the regulator had ever argued XRP itself was a security.

In response, Zero Knowledge Consulting’s Austin Campbell, a consultant, professor, and writer specializing in stablecoins, payments, and regulation in the blockchain space, pointed out that the SEC was “literally alleging tokens with exactly this fact pattern were securities,” listing the cases where this happened.

Joining the outrage was attorney John E. Deaton, who represented over 75,000 XRP holders in the Ripple v. SEC lawsuit and who shared page 24 of the watchdog’s response to his motion to intervene, where lead prosecutor Jorge Tenreiro argued that secondary sales of XRP also constituted securities transactions.

On top of that, another thing going for XRP is Ripple’s announcement of the intention to purchase Rail, a stablecoin-powered platform for global payments, for $200 million, leading to the “most comprehensive stablecoin payments solution available in the market.”

Where will XRP go from here?

Meanwhile, crypto analyst Ali Martinez earlier highlighted that XRP was targeting $3.34 after breaking out of a triangle, a bullish sign that has already met his expectations, but XRP currently remains trapped in this area, potentially waiting for another positive piece of news to continue its move upwards

As a reminder, XRP has hit a record price of $3.65 in July 2025 after seven long years that felt like an eternity, triggering a wave of optimism in the crypto market that has settled a bit in the weeks that followed and recently reawakened to again try and reach that high.

Meanwhile, XRP breaking its seven-year record came as a shock to some naysayers like the crypto trader Xanrox, who just weeks before emphatically announced in his TradingView analysis that XRP would crash by 72% to a low $0.60 despite the hype around the token.