Artificial Intelligence Forecasts Potential Rise to $5.50 in Favorable Scenario
As XRP trades above the $2 support zone, two artificial intelligence (AI) models have shared the price forecast for the asset at the end of 2025 in light of the recent stall in the Ripple and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) case. On Friday, May 17, a federal judge rejected an SEC settlement motion to reduce the $75 million penalty, citing procedural issues rather than addressing the case’s merits. While the decision doesn’t worsen Ripple’s legal standing, it prolongs the uncertainty that continues to cloud XRP and influence investor sentiment.
New Twist in the SEC vs. Ripple Legal Battle
The legal confrontation between the SEC and Ripple has been ongoing for over four years, beginning in December 2020 when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming that the sale of XRP tokens constituted an unregistered securities offering. In July 2024, Ripple scored a significant victory when a judge ruled that XRP itself is not a security, although some institutional sales by Ripple may have violated securities laws.
“The judge’s latest decision to reject the SEC’s motion to reduce the penalty is procedural rather than substantive,” explains John Deaton, an attorney closely following the case. “However, it means that the final resolution of the case is delayed, creating additional uncertainty for XRP investors.”
This legal ambiguity continues to influence XRP’s market dynamics, as a judge’s approval of the settlement would have finally closed the chapter. For many investors, the outcome of the SEC case remains a key catalyst that could significantly impact the future value of this crypto asset.
AI Predicts XRP Price for End of 2025
In light of these developments, Finbold gathered predictions from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok to assess how XRP might perform by the end of 2025 amid regulatory uncertainty.
ChatGPT presented a scenario-based forecast shaped by how the SEC case unfolds:
- Bullish Scenario: If Ripple secures a favorable settlement and the broader cryptocurrency market rallies, XRP could rise to between $3.50 and $5.50.
- Neutral Scenario: If the legal process drags on without resolution, XRP will likely trade between $2 and $3.
- Bearish Scenario: An unfavorable outcome, such as an adverse ruling or broader market downturn, could push prices down to the $1 and $2 range.
ChatGPT noted that the current XRP price of around $2.40 reflects a mix of optimism for legal closure and caution due to delays.
Grok, meanwhile, took a more optimistic stance, predicting that XRP could reach between $3.50 and $4.50 by the end of 2025. However, the ongoing SEC case may still create short-term volatility.
The lower end of its forecast accounts for extended legal delays or a broader market pullback, while the $4.50 projection assumes partial legal progress, supported by potential approvals of spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Ripple’s expanding role in global payments.
Factors Influencing XRP’s Potential Growth
To better understand the AI predictions and their context, it’s important to consider key factors that could influence XRP’s price in the coming months:
- Legal Resolution: The complete settlement of the SEC case remains the most significant catalyst. “A final resolution of the SEC case could unleash pent-up demand for XRP from U.S. exchanges and institutional investors,” comments Maria Lopez, an analyst from CryptoCompare.
- Ripple’s Expanding Utility: The company continues to expand its RippleNet payment network and cross-border payment solutions, particularly in regions where regulatory clarity is higher. Ripple has recently formed partnerships with several major financial institutions in Asia and Latin America.
- Institutional Adoption: Potential approval of XRP ETFs could open the door for significant institutional inflow. “Following the approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, XRP could be the next major crypto asset to receive such approval, especially if the SEC case is resolved,” notes David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer.
- Overall Cryptocurrency Market Dynamics: As is often the case, XRP will be subject to broader cryptocurrency market trends, including Bitcoin cycles and macroeconomic factors.
- Technological Developments: Improvements to the underlying XRP Ledger protocol, including proposed support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and smart contracts, could enhance the asset’s utility.
XRP Current Price Analysis
At press time, XRP was trading at $2.39, up 1.5% in the past 24 hours and 0.26% over the past week. The asset’s 50-day simple moving average (SMA) is $2.21, slightly below the current price, indicating short-term stability. The 200-day SMA, at $1.91, reflects a longer-term upward trend.
“XRP’s current trading activity demonstrates resilience despite regulatory uncertainty,” notes Alex Kruger, an independent crypto analyst. “The technical picture remains generally bullish, with consecutive higher lows and support above the psychologically important $2 level.”
Market data also shows an increase in XRP trading volume in Asian jurisdictions where the regulatory environment is more favorable for Ripple and XRP. This geographic redistribution of liquidity has helped support the asset’s price despite ongoing constraints in the U.S. market.
Comparison with Historical Patterns
To put current predictions in context, it’s useful to consider XRP’s historical price movements. In the previous 2017-2018 bull cycle, XRP reached an all-time high of around $3.84. During the 2020-2021 cycle, the peak was approximately $1.96, lower than the previous peak, largely due to the negative impact of the SEC lawsuit filed at the height of that cycle.
The current price level around $2.40 has already surpassed the 2021 peak but remains below the all-time high. This suggests that with a favorable resolution of legal issues, XRP could potentially not only return to its historical highs but exceed them, which aligns with the AI’s optimistic forecasts.
“Historically, XRP has demonstrated the ability for parabolic growth at the end of bull cycles,” notes Tom Lee, an analyst from Fundstrat Global Advisors. “If the current bull cycle extends into 2025 and the SEC case is resolved, the $3.50-$5.50 range looks quite achievable given the asset’s historical volatility.”
Conclusion: Balancing Optimism and Caution
The AI predictions offer an interesting perspective, but as always with cryptocurrency forecasts, they should be viewed with a degree of skepticism. AI models analyze historical data and current trends but cannot fully account for unpredictable events such as regulatory changes or major market disruptions.
Nevertheless, the consensus between two different AI models regarding XRP’s potential growth with a favorable legal outcome is noteworthy. This aligns with many analysts’ understanding that the SEC case acts as a “pressure lid” on XRP’s price, and its resolution could lead to significant price appreciation.
For XRP investors, key points to watch in the coming months will be any further legal developments, potential ETF applications for XRP after case resolution, expansion of Ripple’s corporate partnerships, and the overall cryptocurrency market dynamics at this stage of the current cycle.
As Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, noted: “XRP and Ripple have been working internationally despite U.S. regulatory challenges. When regulatory clarity is finally achieved in the U.S., it will be not an ending but the beginning of a new era for XRP adoption and innovation.”