Market commentator Zach Rector has doubled down on his view that the next major move for XRP will occur before the Clarity Act becomes law.
He asserts that markets move on expectations, not official documents. Rector argues that anyone waiting for XRP to take off only after President Trump signs the Act is ignoring a classic crypto pattern: “buy the rumor, sell the news.”
Accordingly, Rector suggests that by the time the bill reaches the President’s desk, XRP’s breakout will likely have already happened. Specifically, Rector claimed the market will “absolutely” see a run-up in XRP before the Clarity Act goes live.
Congress at Crucial Window for Clarity Act
The discussion comes as Washington enters a decisive stretch. According to a report from Crypto in America, the Senate Banking Committee is pushing to finalize its market structure bill before a possible review next week.
A recent bipartisan meeting reportedly went well, with the main remaining issues being ethics and the classification of digital assets.
The Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC, has not yet scheduled its own review. With Congress approaching its holiday break, both committees are racing to finalize rules that will guide crypto oversight.
This effort ties into the Clarity Act, which has passed the House and is now waiting in the Senate. But Rector says that even if the bill doesn’t move before year-end, the market will not stay idle.
History “Shows” XRP Doesn’t Wait for Laws
In a separate commentary, Rector argued that XRP has a history of staging extraordinary price moves before regulatory milestones. He cited a recent example in which XRP posted one of the largest rallies in recent memory before an official U.S. regulatory announcement on crypto assets.
Beginning in November 2024, shortly after Donald Trump won the U.S. election, XRP climbed from roughly $0.50 to $3.40 by mid-January 2025. This move was a 580% surge. XRP later reached $3.66 in July 2025, marking a roughly 650% increase from pre-election levels.
According to Rector, these remarkable gains happened “without any law,” suggesting the surge was independent of regulatory developments.
Meanwhile, during this time, the Ripple lawsuit concluded, former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler resigned, and President Trump signed the Genius Act into law the same month XRP reached $3.66.
While Rector sought to suggest otherwise, XRP’s price movement from November 2024 to July 2025 was indeed bolstered by several regulatory milestones. Notably, the Clarity Act had not yet entered serious Senate discussions during XRP’s rally.
How Much Does the Clarity Act Matter?
Many XRP community members argue that another explosive move cannot occur until the Clarity Act becomes law. Some believe ETFs and other market drivers will have a limited impact until the Act is finalized.
However, according to Rector, delays in the Clarity Act may have held XRP back this year, but the bill is a catalyst, not a requirement. He warns that waiting for full regulatory certainty before buying XRP could mean missing the start of a breakout.
He’s especially concerned about investors who “tune out” until the law passes, as they might end up with smaller positions or miss the move entirely.
For now, the Senate Committees are making efforts to achieve early passage of the Clarity Act by 2026.