Bitcoin and crypto prices soar after Donald Trump's return to the White House as traders bet on massive earthquake.

Bitcoin and crypto prices, including Ripple’s XRP, have made huge gains following Donald Trump's return to the White House as traders bet on massive earthquake.

The price of bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies, including Ripple’s XRP, have made huge gains following Donald Trump’s return to the White House as traders bet on massive earthquake.

After a chaotic eight-month stint in the White House, former U.S. president Donald Trump has returned to the Oval Office following a closely fought election with Joe Biden, macroeconomic woes and a mystery threat that has seen a leading crypto trader targeted.

Trump’s return comes after Biden’s administration faced backlash over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout, with crypto traders and investors also heavily criticized by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for “scam” coins and a lack of investor protection.

Now, as traders are told to “buckle up,” Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse has said the company is poised to “unlock the U.S. market,” predicting the “opportunity” will be “massive.”

“The market opportunity here is huge,” Garlinghouse told Fox Business after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ended its four-year legal battle against the company and leaving Ripple free to pursue its goal of unseating Swift, the global messaging network that enables banks to send money around the world.

“You’ve got trillions of dollars that is flowing cross-border globally and is still dominated by Swift. The challenge is that the SEC has been fighting this. However, the Trump Effect is now profound, as evidenced by the adoption of these technologies.”

Ripple’s legal battle against the SEC, began in late 2020, saw the company accused of raising $1.3 billion through an unregistered securities offering. In 2023, Ripple won a partial victory after a federal judge ruled that XRP wasn’t a security when sold to retail investors, but was when sold to institutions. The agency appealed that decision but is now backing down.

“It took longer than we would have liked—more than $150 million of legal bills, but we’re thrilled with the ultimate outcome,” Garlinghouse said. “It allows us to really unlock the U.S. market.”

Meanwhile, XRP has been named by Trump as one of the cryptocurrencies that will make up a U.S.-focused crypto stockpile.

A U.S. crypto reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden administration, which is why my executive order on digital assets directed the presidential working group to move forward on a crypto strategic reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2024

“My administration is focused on advancing the U.S. economic and national security interests. We will be putting together a crypto strategic reserve to help support the stability of the U.S. financial system and to counter any attempts by hostile foreign powers to destabilize the U.S. economy with their own cryptocurrencies,” Trump said in a statement.

Trump later signed an executive order calling for the creation of a crypto stockpile alongside a bitcoin strategic reserve.

Traders are also betting the SEC will wave through a long-awaited XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) following the creation of fully-fledged bitcoin and ethereum ETFs last year.

“XRP is seeing a bullish push, particularly with the SEC dropping its lawsuit against Ripple Labs,” Nick Forster, founder of the decentralized onchain options platform Derive.xyz, said in emailed comments.

“Additionally, the SEC’s pending review of five XRP ETFs could lead to $8 billion in inflows throughout the year.”