Just a few days after Ripple's stablecoin officially obtained approval from the New York authorities, optimism remains high about the cryptocurrency's potential.

Although the price is consolidating in the daily chart, the trend is positive in the weekly chart. The price at the time of publication was $2.41, with a 1.32% price increase in the past day and a 1.14% spike in the weekly chart.

Recent Price Changes

XRP still ranks the fourth largest cryptocurrency on CoinMarketCap, with a market capitalization of $137 billion. However, the trading volumes dropped by 50% in the past 24 hours to $11.79 billion. Beyond the volatility, XRP is perceived as the most resilient cryptocurrency.

Few cryptocurrencies have managed to sustain growth amid regulatory challenges, including Ripple 's legal tussle with the SEC. Now, Ripple's XRP is attracting other digital asset projects to launch on its blockchain, the XRP Ledger.

Among these projects is a meme coin dubbed $PHNIX. According to a statement the company shared with GlobalNewswire, the project launched on FirstLedger, a decentralized exchange on XRP Ledger. The blockchain reportedly supports applications focusing on payments and micropayments.

The positive momentum regarding Ripple's XRP followed the approval of the platform's USD-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, which has also contributed to XRP's price surge.

Ripple introduced RLUSD in October in collaboration with top crypto exchanges and financial institutions. The digital asset is designed to support cross-border payments and will reportedly be available to users worldwide.

Commenting about the approval, Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on X: "This just in…we have final approval from the NYDFS for $RLUSD! Exchange and partner listings will be live soon, and reminder: when RLUSD is live, you'll hear it from Ripple first."

Whale Activities and Price Prediction

The positive development in blockchain could be behind the recent Whale activities, a term referring to the massive transfer of vast amounts of digital assets by large investors, mostly institutions.

Over the past 24 hours, Ripple reportedly transferred a staggering 580 million XRP, causing speculation about its strategic moves. Whale Alert reported over $1.5 billion worth of XRP transferred in just two days, moves that could also have excited the market.

Technically, XRP prices are locked in a consolidation between the $1.9 support and $2.8 resistance levels. The price has remained within this range since December 1. In the short term, these levels will determine whether the price will rise or drop. The Relative Strength Indicator (RSI) also shows that the price has not reached the overbought zone.

However, prices could maintain an upward trend in the long term amid the positive sentiment the cryptocurrency is currently enjoying. This includes the recently approved stablecoin, optimism around favorable crypto regulations in the US, and the overall market sentiment.