From theblock by Timmy Shen

XRP +26.74% has surpassed Tether’s USDT -0.03% stablecoin in market capitalization, becoming the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency following bitcoin and ether.

XRP, which is largely associated with Ripple Labs, has a market cap of $141.8 billion at the time of writing, surpassing USDT’s $134.5 billion. The price of XRP jumped 30% over the past 24 hours to $2.46, according to The Block’s price page. It has risen 364.1% in the past month.

The surge in XRP follows its recent surpassing of Solana in market cap over the weekend. Bitcoin climbed 1.28% to currently trade at $97,862, while ether added 0.68% to change hands at $3,721. Solana edged down 0.96% to $235.84.

“XRP's recent strength seems to be driven by the news last week that NYDFS is close to approving Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD,” Peter Chung, head of research at Presto Research, told The Block. 

The New York Department of Financial Services may be approving Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin soon with the company eyeing a possible launch date of Dec. 4, Fox News reported on Friday, citing sources close to the matter. Ripple did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for comment.

XRP’s price momentum may also be influenced by Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler’s recent announcement that he will step down from his role in January. The SEC has been in a legal battle with Ripple since 2020, accusing the company of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, which it deemed an unregistered security.

“Gensler stepping down is also a plus as this means that the SEC under a new leadership is likely to settle or withdraw many of the SEC’s outstanding lawsuits, including the appeal against Ripple,” Chung said. “It's difficult to judge how long the rally will last. If the XRP community can leverage the RLUSD to nurture the ecosystem on XRP Ledger and create values, it could. Ripple will certainly be in a better position to do so without the distraction from the SEC lawsuit.”

Market participants are also watching the possibilities of spot XRP exchange-traded funds. Several asset managers, including 21Shares, Canary Capital and Bitwise, have filed for XRP ETFs.