$XRP Surges After Ripple CEO Dinner With Trump, $RLUSD Bitstamp Listing

The XRP Ledger's XRP token surged overnight following some major developments around Ripple, the XRP coin's largest holder and also the overseer of XRPL development.

XRP started the year in a seemingly stagnant state – not too much momentum and not too many losses. The altcoin appears to have been in rest mode in recent days following its major milestones at the end of 2024.

However, Wednesday was a different story for one of the world's largest cryptocurrencies. The altcoin is up nearly 3% in the last 24 hours, positively affected by big news around Ripple and the company's recently-launched stablecoin, RLUSD.

Ripple CEO, CLO Have Dinner with Trump

While many factors affect the spike of a crypto asset, recent activity around Ripple could be a major driver, especially as talks around better crypto policies rise.

On Thursday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed that he had dinner alongside Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Garlinghouse didn't reveal what they discussed, but the crypto community on X is already cooking up theories on what went down at dinner.

Cybersecurity expert Erik Portillo believes the trio weren't "just hanging out because they're friends," suggesting that there were important topics they discussed, considering how Alderoty was in the mix.

Alderoty is known for his straightforward criticism of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including its outgoing Chair, Gary Gensler.

Well-followed crypto YouTuber Moon Lambo interpreted the photo of two Ripple executives with the incoming president as a signal that Trump was "serious about making crypto great again."

XRPcryptowolf, a prominent figure in the crypto community, believes the three spoke about "the future of XRP and crypto overall" during the dinner meeting.

Alderoty also didn't say much about the meeting, just that "the beef bourguignon was really good."

Bistamp Lists $RLUSD

Ripple and XRP are trending topics on X as of early Thursday, but another big story around the company is crypto exchange Bitstamp's listing of Ripple USD (RLUSD) on the Ethereum network.

In its Thursday announcement regarding the new listing, Bitstamp described the stablecoin as "a robust solution designed for institutional-grade financial use cases, including payments and tokenization."

The exchange, one of the oldest in the crypto space, also noted how RLUSD was issued under regulatory guidance, which means users can be assured of "top-tier trust and compliance."

Notably, financial services giant Robinhood agreed to acquire Bitstamp in a $200 million cash deal last year as part of the fintech titan's efforts to expand outside its home country in the U.S.

Ripple's Big Year Ahead

Thursday's XRP surge and the RLUSD's new listing come as Ripple prepares for what could be a massive year.

Ripple President Monica Long told Bloomberg Crypto Wednesday that this year, the company believes it is "likely" XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will be approved in 2025. She also hinted that the Ripple stablecoin will be "imminently" available on more exchanges this year.

With Bitstamp's announcement, RLUSD is now available on six exchanges and platforms.