Important update on Ripple’s lawsuit against SEC on October 11th

TL;DR

Judge Torres ruled that secondary sales of XRP are not securities, but Ripple was fined $125 million. The company filed a cross-appeal after the SEC defended, adding further legal uncertainty. XRP experienced a slight recovery to $0.54, but remains on the downside in the past two weeks. The latest update

The legal fight between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached a major milestone in early August when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that sales of XRP on secondary markets to retail investors did not constitute securities transactions. On the other hand, it ordered the company to pay a fine of 125 million dollars for violating certain rules.

The figure represented just a fraction of the $2 billion the SEC initially sought, leading many (including Ripple’s CEO) to describe the ruling as a victory.

The regulator appealed the decision in 2023, prompting a double-digit price drop for the native token and a new bout of uncertainty.

More recently, Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty said the company filed a cross-appeal “to make sure nothing is left on the table, including the argument that there can’t be a “contract d ‘investment’ without essential rights and obligations in a contract.”

He recalled that the SEC has already stated that it does not fight the magistrate’s decision that XRP itself is not a security. “They even apologized in another case for suggesting a witness could be security,” the executive added.

In conclusion, Alderoty said the company hopes the federal appeals court will “finally put a stake in the heart of Gensler’s misguided attack” on the cryptocurrency industry.

XRP price reaction

The asset’s price headed north shortly after Alderoty’s announcement, reaching approximately $0.54. It is currently trading around $0.53 (according to CoinGecko data), which represents an increase of only 1.5% on a daily basis.

XRP Price, Source: CoinGecko

Still, XRP remains in the red for two weeks, which coincides with the broader decline in the entire crypto market during that period.

Despite the token’s shaky performance recently, several analysts remain optimistic that a solid rally could be just around the corner. X user Dark Defender recently argued that the news surrounding the Ripple v. SECs have “minor impact” on XRP, whose valuation is based primarily on technical metrics:

“When considering the Heikin Ashi candles (mid-price candles, currently at $0.57), the monthly average price remains above the support level, which is critical for XRP to continue its momentum. This is supported with the MACD indicator, where XRP has the green dot on the monthly time frame. I am very bullish and expect XRP to follow its pattern.”

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