XRP Jumps 17%, Outperforms Rest of the Market as Rally Cools; Trader Thinks $120K Bitcoin Target Still in Play

Bitcoin has fallen from a peak of $93,000 to $88,000, resulting in a loss of $120 million.

The market is now pricing a 66% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut at the December FOMC meeting, up from 83% on Thursday.

XRP has gained at least 17% in the past 24 hours, outperforming Bitcoin {{BTC}} and major cryptocurrencies, as an improving regulatory climate in the U.S. has helped boost the token, which had been held back by actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

XRP traded above 82 cents in early Asian trading on Friday, doubling its seven-day gain. The surge was fueled by 18 US states suing the SEC and its commissioners, including Chairman Gary Gensler, for unconstitutionally overregulating the crypto industry.

In speculative optimism, traders note that a crypto-friendly Trump administration could benefit tokens linked to US companies like Ripple Labs (linked to XRP) and Uniswap (UNI), as these companies are actively involved in driving up the value of the tokens for their holders.

Meanwhile, BTC and major currency exchanges lost up to 4% amid profit-taking late in the US on Thursday, an expected market reaction after several days of steady gains.

The catalyst for the decline was Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's harsh words in his latest speech, dashing hopes for a quicker rate cut. “The economy is not showing any signs that we need to rush to cut rates,” Powell said in prepared remarks at a conference in Dallas. “The strength we’ve seen in the economy allows us to be more measured in our decision-making.”

As of Friday, the market is pricing in a 66% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut at the FOMC’s December meeting, down from 83% last Thursday.

BTC has fallen to $88,000 from a high of $93,000 on Thursday, wiping out more than $120 million in losses on both bull and bear bets. Ether (ETH) and Solana’s SOL are down 3.5%, while dog-themed Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) are down as much as 5%. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), which tracks the largest tokens by market cap, was little changed.

New top-20 token pepe (PEPE) slipped 8% after a 75% jump on Thursday following its Coinbase listing, which pushed the frog-themed meme's market cap past $10 billion for the first time.

Bullish sentiment on Bitcoin and the broader market remains intact.

"Given the impressive rally in Bitcoin since the US election, we believe $100,000 - $120,000 may be just around the corner," QCP Capital traders wrote in a Telegram broadcast. "We believe that the underlying power of BTC represents a systematic turn in the market ahead of Trump's reelection." “His (Trump’s) idea of ​​launching a BTC strategic reserve and rotating from gold to BTC provides a strong narrative that supports BTC prices,” QCP added.