Ripple-promoted token XRP has flipped Tether’s USDT stablecoin to claim its spot as the third-biggest crypto by market cap, trailing only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). XRP nearly touched the elusive $3 mark on Wednesday morning, reaching a level not seen since 2018.

XRP’s meteoric price performance comes amid reports that pro-crypto Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioners Hester Pierce and Mark Uyeda are set to overhaul the agency’s crypto policies as soon as next week as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office.

SEC Could Drop Non-Fraud Crypto Cases

A recent report from Reuters citing people familiar with the matter revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission commissioners Pierce and Uyeda will start reforms next week following the departure of current chairman Gary Gensler. 

The commissioners will focus on creating clear rules that will help to make it easier to clarify whether a certain token qualifies as a security. In particular, they plan to start new rulemaking by requesting the input of the public on crypto token classification.

The sources further claimed that the SEC could be poised to pause or dismiss some non-fraud cryptocurrency enforcement cases currently pending in courts. Notably, the regulator unleashed over 80 crypto-related enforcement cases during Gensler’s reign, targeting high-profile companies such as Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken.

The policy change comes as former crypto-friendly SEC commissioner Paul Atkins is anticipated to end Gensler’s current regulation-by-enforcement approach.

XRP Is Back In Top Three

The XRP price has been on a tear and surged to $2.99 — a seven-year high for the coin, though it has since pulled back slightly to $2.97 as of press time. The token is up 12% since this time yesterday, according to CoinGecko.

The Ripple-linked XRP has greatly outperformed other crypto majors over the last seven days, surging by roughly 27.6% during that time. XRP’s market capitalization jumped to $169.7 billion on Jan. 15, surpassing USDT, which has seen a decline in its market cap since Dec. 30 following the implementation of the European Union’s Market’s in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, which enforces harsher rules for stablecoin providers.

XRP’s latest upsurge can also be attributed to increasing strategic partnerships and new product launches from Ripple, including the recent rollout of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin and expectations of pro-crypto policies under the forthcoming Trump government. There’s also rising optimism about the approval of U.S.-listed spot XRP ETFs, which could collectively attract up to $8 billion in fresh capital, according to analysts.