Donald Trump’s influence weighs on Ripple Labs US trades and XRP gains

Incoming US President Donald Trump is widely expected to be a positive catalyst for the cryptocurrency market, but his promises are already boosting the business of local cryptocurrency companies.

Financial company Ripple Labs, which offers payment paths and the RLUSD stablecoin using the XRP Ledger, reported an increase in local deals and hiring efforts ahead of Trump’s inauguration on January 20 — with the growth pinned on the incoming administration’s campaign promises.

“2025 is here and the Trump bull market is real,” CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in an X post late Sunday. “For Ripple, this has become even more personal after the SEC froze our jobs here at home for years. The optimism is clear and very deserved.”

“We have signed more US deals in the last six weeks of 2024 (since the election) than in the previous six months,” he added. “Say what you want, but the ‘Trump effect’ is already making crypto great again – both through his campaign and in his first-day priorities.” for management.”

Garlinghouse added that the company is now hiring almost exclusively in the United States, a shift from the company’s expansion overseas during the previous Joe Biden administration.

Ripple now has 75% of its open roles in the United States, Garlinghouse said. As such, the company is also donating to Trump’s upcoming inauguration and has pledged $5 million in XRP tokens to the effort.

Since November, speculative optimism among traders has been that a crypto-friendly Trump administration could benefit from tokens tied to US-based companies, such as Ripple Labs (linked to XRP) and Uniswap (UNI), as the companies are more involved in boosting value. For token holders.

Ripple (XRP) prices have risen more than 300% since Trump’s victory, outpacing the growth of all other major cryptocurrencies, especially at the expense of the United States.

Merchants from other countries are also piling in. Last week, XRP rose more than 11% even as major currencies remained within range, led by $1.3 billion in trading volumes on Korea-focused exchange Upbit.

CoinDesk analysis previously pointed to unusually high trading volumes for XRP stemming from South Korean exchanges, which have historically served as a harbinger of price volatility with a bias to the upside.

XRP was trading just above $2.40 during the Asian afternoon hours on Monday, and was little changed over the past 24 hours along with the broader market.