After U.S. debt debate, XRP surged 56% to $1.56, policy shift not confirmed

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XRP has attracted attention due to the U.S. debt debate, but policies have not changed.

Vice President JD Vance participated in a television discussion on U.S. Treasury bonds, during which he was asked whether the government would consider holding cryptocurrencies such as XRP to deal with fiscal liabilities, and XRP entered the public eye.

Government Policies and Official Statements

In an interview with Newsmax on August 20, host Carl Higbee mentioned President Donald Trump's previous remarks about cryptocurrency reserves. Higby recalled that Trump mentioned that digital assets such as Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and Cadano could become part of that reserve.

Higby asked Vance if the government plans to use these digital assets, especially XRP, to reduce the country's ballooning debt. According to Treasury data, U.S. Treasuries exceeded $40 trillion in August.

Vice President Vance did not directly respond to XRP-related issues, nor did he discuss adopting cryptocurrency policies related to repaying federal debt. He instead emphasized the government's focus on economic growth and plans to establish a sovereign wealth fund that would invest in a variety of assets to benefit the country.

Vance also referred to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant's economic plan, noting that the goal is to ensure that the economy grows faster than the national debt. He did not imply that the government would buy XRP, use cryptocurrencies to pay off debt, or include digital assets in planned sovereign wealth funds.

As early as early as 2025, when President Trump discussed the concept of cryptocurrency reserves, he mentioned XRP together with Bitcoin and other tokens. However, there is no indication that current officials will allow such digital assets to play a formal role in government debt management or fiscal operations.

It was previously reported that President Trump signed an executive order four days after mentioning the concept in March, creating two government reserves: a strategic bitcoin reserve and an inventory of U.S. digital assets. Bitcoin reserves contain tokens obtained through confiscation, while digital asset inventories include other seized cryptocurrencies. XRP is not separately included in the executive order, and further acquisitions of non-Bitcoin assets require additional administrative or legislative action.

Market Reaction and Technical Outlook

In the morning of August 22, XRP trading price was close to US$1.56, up from the level of about US$1 at the beginning of the week. As trading volume increased, the token briefly hit $1.70 before consolidating. The price increase began on August 19, before the Vance interview was aired, suggesting that the public discussion was not a trigger for the rally.

Technical analysis shows that on the four-hour chart, XRP remains above the 50-cycle exponential moving average ($1.16). The Relative Strength Index (RSI) climbed to 88.78, indicating strong momentum, but there is also a risk that it may be overbought.

RSI readings above 70 are usually considered overbought, and traders often expect increased volatility or profit-taking, but this does not guarantee a shift in trend.

Recent short-term support is currently at $1.34, a key area of resistance recovered during the breakout process. The deeper support range is close to $1.16, coinciding with the 50-cycle moving average. Continued trading above $1.70 could drive further gains, while a break below $1.34 could signal a larger downward correction.

While monitoring key technology signals is crucial, a broader market transformation is also underway. As investors increasingly use platforms to hold stocks of major U.S. companies, gold and silver directly in cryptocurrency wallets, Wall Street is turning to Web3. By tokenizing real-world assets and automatically seeking the best market prices, these platforms eliminate the need for intermediaries.

Despite the renewed focus on the debt debate, officials have yet to announce any policies to purchase XRP, use cryptocurrencies to reduce national debt, or expand the government's crypto-asset strategy. Currently, the concept of a sovereign wealth fund has nothing to do with digital asset reserves, and it has not been confirmed whether XRP will be included in future federal investment vehicles.