XRP Price Surges. Why These Cryptos Are Starting 2025 on Fire. — Barrons.com
By George GloverIt's been a strong start to 2025 for cryptocurrencies — and one of last year's biggest success stories has already racked up double-digit gains.XRP, a token that's used to settle and facilitate transactions on Ripple Labs' digital-payments platform, has gained 11% to $2.40 over the past 24 hours, according to Kraken. It surged just under 300% in 2024, driven higher by the expectation that President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration will slash digital-asset regulation and ease legal pressure on Ripple.That wasn't the only token climbing to kick off the new year. Ethereum has climbed 3.9% over the past 24 hours, while Solana was up 10%.Dogecoin, a so-called meme coin that's been endorsed in the past by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was up 7% to just under 34 cents. Musk reminded the market of his ability to be a catalyst for obscure cryptos on Tuesday when his decision to change his username on X to Kekius Maximus — an apparent reference to the alt-right Pepe the Frog meme — caused the price of a similarly-named token to surge about 900%. It's since given up all of those gains.Bitcoin, which was up about 2% in early trading, appeared to be driving other digital assets higher on Thursday. It tends to serve as a leading indicator for the broader market because when its price rises, crypto investors can lock in some profit and diversify into other, riskier tokens.Write to George Glover 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.