XRP Price Jumps and Bitcoin Surges Past $100,000. Why the Crypto Rally Has Legs. — Barrons.com

By Elsa OhlenCryptocurrencies look poised for another good day, with XRP climbing to well above $3 and Bitcoin breaking through $100,000 yet again. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration Monday could be the next big catalyst for digital coins.Bitcoin, the world's largest crypto, is up 3.2% over the last 24 hours to $102,282 according to CoinDesk. It briefly hit $108,000 in mid-December.The popular altcoin XRP, used to facilitate transactions on the Ripple payment platform, continued its three-day rally to climb another 3.5% over the last 24 hours to reach $3.32.XRP has now risen about 40% over the past week, and "has really got legs, " market strategist Louis Navellier wrote Thursday. "It has been identified as the crypto of preference by the Fed and some major banks," Navellier added.Trump is planning to make cryptocurrencies a national priority, including creating a crypto advisory council, according to a Bloomberg report late Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Trump made during his election campaign largely about boosting the crypto industry and prices have soared since he won a second term in the White House on Nov. 5.Cryptos have also been helped by macroeconomic factors this week as the latest inflation data seemed to point to increased odds of multiple interest rate cuts this year. Lower rates typically boost crypto prices.Among other cryptocurrencies, Ether is up 2.2%, Solana rose 7.5% and Dogecoin soared 12% over the last 24 hours, according to CoinDesk.Write to Elsa Ohlen at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.