In May 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hosted Saturday Night Live . While many tuned in like they do every Saturday night, the crypto community watched with great interest, especially owners of the meme token Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) . Musk first tweeted about Dogecoin in 2019 and later revealed it was one of three cryptocurrencies he owned.
These events culminated in a face-melting rally for Dogecoin that drove the token up 5,890% during the first four to five months of 2021. Now, with the price of XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) up over 400% since Election Day, is the token about to have a Dogecoin-like moment with the CEO of Ripple Labs, the company behind XRP, poised to make a major television appearance? Let's take a look.
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Gearing up for CBS' "60 Minutes"
Few cryptocurrencies have benefited more from a Donald Trump victory than XRP. In 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple Labs, the company behind XRP , and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Christian Larsen for allegedly selling XRP as an unregistered security in 2013. Many stakeholders followed the case closely because it could set a precedent as the SEC vies for more regulatory jurisdiction over many cryptocurrencies.
A judge ruled in Ripple's favor, but then the SEC appealed parts of the decision. However, SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who has spearheaded many of the SEC's crypto initiatives and lawsuits, announced that he would resign once Trump takes office, which could lead to a quicker conclusion for the long-standing legal affair.
Following Trump's victory, media outlets reported that Trump, who has been pro-crypto, held a meeting with Garlinghouse, sending the price of XRP higher. More recently, on Nov. 25, Garlinghouse on X said he got interviewed by CBS' 60 Minutes about a range of crypto topics for an episode that will air soon. Many assumed the interview would air on Dec. 1, but it never did. Between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, XRP's price climbed nearly 39% anyhow.
By Dec. 2, XRP had risen over 63%, and by Dec. 3, it was up over 93% since Nov. 27. Part of this move seemed to be driven by the potential 60 Minutes interview and could still be inspired by it because the interview is widely expected to happen at some point.
Meme tokens like Dogecoin seem to move with big publicity that creates organic marketing. For instance, Dogecoin usually rises when Musk tweets something about the token to his 206+ million followers. 60 Minutes is CBS's top-rated non-sports program on Sundays and can garner over 10 million viewers. The belief is that this kind of exposure may bring in new buyers who will raise XRP's price to new highs.
Is XRP more legitimate than Dogecoin?
Garlinghouse's interview is still expected to air. It will be interesting to see how the price reacts, especially once the episode date is known. It very well could be a sell-the-news event similar to what happened to Dogecoin.
However, I do think XRP has a lot more merit than Dogecoin. Even after this impressive run, XRP has significantly underperformed Dogecoin over the last five years. The SEC lawsuit has served as an overhang, and XRP has many more potential use cases than Dogecoin, specifically for cross-border payments. XRP also has a limited supply, which could make it a better hedge against inflation. Additionally, there is a possibility for spot XRP exchange-traded funds, which would help increase exposure to the token.
Predicting how long the crypto rally will last is difficult because cryptocurrencies don't have any intrinsic value, and it's tough to time market sentiment. However, XRP could still have a long runway as long as the rally continues, given its underperformance in recent years. Trading will likely be volatile, so invest only what you can afford to lose.
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