XRP Has Gained 9% This Week Amidst Favorable Crypto Market Conditions and Rising Institutional Demand, Including New ETF Developments.

XRP has gained 9% this week amidst favorable crypto market conditions and rising institutional demand, including new ETF developments.

The price of XRP has risen 9% this week as crypto markets continue to move higher and we get more signs of strong institutional demand for the token.

After ProShares received approval for a futures XRP ETF, analysts have begun making predictions that we could see even bigger inflows into XRP if the SEC grants approval for spot ETFs.

One analyst, Armando Pantoja, predicts that the spot XRP ETFs could attract $100 billion in inflows, which would undoubtedly be crucial to the asset’s price performance.

The SEC just approved an $XRP Futures ETF — the first major domino to fall.A Spot XRP ETF could be next, unlocking real demand and sending prices soaring.$100 billion+ could soon flood into XRP… stay ahead.

As Pantoja highlights, the approval of futures ETFs means that traders can now easily gain exposure to XRP without needing to purchase the asset itself. This lack of institutional buying pressure is a key factor in keeping the price lower than it could be.

However, institutional investors prefer to buy the asset directly through a spot ETF, which would create buying pressure and contribute to a price rally.

Another analyst, John Squire, says that the futures ETF approval ”increases XRP’s legitimacy,” but the “silver bullet” will come when the spot ETFs gain approval.

While futures ETFs allow traders to speculate on an asset’s performance, spot ETFs provide investors with direct asset exposure.

According to Squire, the institutional buying pressure from spot XRP ETFs will create “real market impact,” contributing to an XRP rally.

Grayscale's spot XRP ETF has a critical deadline of 22 May, meaning that investors will soon have more certainty about approvals.

The chart above from Benzinga provides more context about the technical picture for XRP. After an explosive rally in Q4 of 2024, XRP faced strong resistance in the opening months of 2025.

However, analysts have noticed a trend shift, which could signify that the next leg higher is imminent.

Chimp of the North highlighted that XRP recently broke above a trendline resistance level and flipped it to support. The analyst called this “the retest of a lifetime,” nodding to an explosive uptrend continuation in the coming months.

World of Charts also observed that XRP is now testing the 200-week moving average, which could be a crucial factor in the intermediate-term trend.

If the price can close above the 200-week MA, it might indicate further bullish momentum.

As to how far it could go, World of Charts believes XRP could surpass $5 by mid-summer.

Given the increasing likelihood of spot ETF approvals and the substantial demand analysts expect to see, this $5 target appears well within reach.

$Xrp #Xrp Volume Coming, Breaking Out Gearing Up For Massive Rally In Midterm. https://t.co/WyDnud1iRpHav you noticed the huge fib no at 1.6 fib level on lower time frames? This will be interesting to watch as we approach the 1.6 fib on the bigger time frames

— World of Charts (@WorldofCharts_) 12 May, 2025As we noted earlier today, the broader crypto market is shifting bullish, with numerous major altcoins giving big gains this month. But can some of these altcoins outperform XRP as prices continue to rise?

Solaxy is a promising new blockchain that has raised $32 million so far and aims to reshape the Solana ecosystem. It’s building the first-ever Solana layer 2 blockchain, aiming to boost speeds and cut fees compared to the main network.

This will unlock new use cases for the ecosystem that were otherwise unfeasible due to fees and transactional capabilities.

It’s also worth noting that Solaxy is the largest Solana presale in history, which massively strengthens its potential to explode once it hits the open market.

Another project that’s heating up is Virtuals Protocol, an AI agent launchpad that allows users to create agents with text-based prompts. Some of the agents built on Virtuals Protocol are also soaring. For instance, aiXCB is up 67% today, and VaderAI is up 23%.

Meanwhile, the $VIRTUALS token itself has booked a whopping 158% gain this week, reflecting deep market interest.

AI agents are one of the most viral technological breakthroughs to emerge in recent years, and Virtuals Protocol is leading the agentic crypto space. This is why it could be another project that generates strong gains.

Lastly, we have Deepbook Protocol, which is among the top crypto performers this week with a 144% gain. It’s a decentralized exchange built on layer 1 blockchain Sui, and it strongly focuses on ensuring deep liquidity.

Strong liquidity allows more sophisticated traders to use the network without creating price impact, which could attract more value to the ecosystem.

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