XRP overtook USDT after Ripple unlocked 500 million ahead of Trump's inauguration

The price of Ripple (XRP) rose 22% in 3 days to $2.47 on Friday, as crypto markets 2025 got off to a positive start.
On-chain data shows that the price spike coincided with a cryptic Trump-related message embedded in Ripple’s latest escrow transaction of 500 million XRP on January 1st.
XRP Weighted Sentiment turned increasingly negative on Tuesday, signaling room for further upside as market sentiment recovers from the holiday selloff.

Ripple (XRP) price hit a 14-day high of $2.50 on Friday as mega-cap altcoins get 2025 off to a positive start.

With market sentiment remaining cautious, on-chain data suggests that the XRP price could potentially make more gains as the inauguration of United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump approaches.

XRP Starts 2025 Up 23% As Ripple’s Trump Reference Ruffles Feathers

On Wednesday, Ripple unlocked another 500 million XRP tokens from its escrow account as part of Ripple’s monthly token inventory management schedule.

However, a cryptic message related to Trump’s upcoming inauguration embedded in Ripple’s latest transaction sparked a positive market reaction.

XRP community influencer JackTheRippler alerted his 302,400 followers to X in a memo accompanying Ripple’s latest transaction details.

500M XRP Token Transaction Details (Source: X Post)

The meme read: “20. January is around the corner. Donald Trump will be in the WH (Whitehouse) and we will make crypto great again.”

Foreshadowing potential transformative changes in cryptocurrency under the Trump administration, this transactional meme has sparked optimism within the XRP spot market.

Ripple (XRP) Prices | January 3, 2025

As seen in the chart above, XRP opened trading at $2.1 on Wednesday. But since the Trump reference was embedded in Ripple’s latest escrow transaction, the price of XRP has surged 23% to $2.5 on Friday, overtaking Tether (USDT) as the third largest cryptocurrency project by market capitalization.

Market sentiment remains cautious despite recent gains

Despite the recent rise in prices, data aggregates in the chain show that market sentiment has yet to recover from the fall caused by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in the second half of December.

Corroborating this narrative, Santiment’s Weighted Sentiment chart below tracks the frequency of positive and negative discourse around XRP.

Ripple (XRP) Weighted Sentiment | January 2025 | Source: Sentiment

As seen above, XRP Weighted Sentiment remains negative at -0.2 since Friday, showing that negative comments still outweigh positive.

This implies that despite a 23% gain in the first three days of 2025, most traders still have a cautious outlook.

In essence, this points to further upside potential for the price of XRP for two reasons.

First, prolonged negative sentiment suggests that many traders may still be on the sidelines, providing room for fresh capital to flow in as confidence builds.

Second, such accelerated price growth amid cautious aggregate market sentiment reflects underlying buying pressure from XRP whales and large institutional players.

If the current market dynamics continue, the price of XRP could potentially advance further towards $3 before Trump’s inauguration scheduled for January 20th.

XRP Price Forecast: Community Hints at $3 Rise Ahead of Trump Inauguration

Ripple’s cryptic Trump-related message embedded in its Wednesday transaction memo sent XRP up 23% to $2.50 within three days, outperforming BTC and ETH as crypto markets kicked off 2025 with bullish momentum.

Despite the price rally, cautious market sentiment remains, as reflected in XRP’s weighted sentiment remaining negative.

That points to the potential for further upside as traders on the sidelines could re-enter the market, fueling more gains in the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration.

XRP Price Forecast | XRPUSDT