TL;DR
Ripple has gained an upper hand in its legal battle with the SEC, scoring several partial court victories and dropping charges against top executives. Speculation about a near-term resolution may have boosted the price of XRP, briefly making it the sixth largest cryptocurrency. Big news on the horizon?
The legal battle between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dates back to December 2020, when the regulator accused the company and some of its executives of conducting an unregistered securities offering through certain XRP sales.
The lawsuit went through countless developments in recent years before entering its trial phase in April 2024. Some believe that Ripple has gained the upper hand due to securing three partial court victories throughout 2023.
The first (and probably the most important to date) occurred almost exactly a year ago. Judge Torres then ruled that the company’s programmatic sales on secondary trading platforms do not constitute offers of investment contracts.
Magistrates soon after dismissed the agency’s intention to appeal the decision, while Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse and executive chairman Chris Larsen were cleared of all charges brought by the commission
The final resolution of the case has not yet been announced, and could drag on indefinitely due to the complexity of the court process and potential appeals from both sides. On the other hand, some experts believe that a deal is around the corner.
US Attorney Jeremy Hogan believes the official end could come before the end of the summer, while Fred Rispoli pegged July 31 as the likely settlement date.
Ripple CEO Garlinghouse also gave his two cents on the matter, predicting a resolution “very soon.” He did not disclose whether his firm and the SEC are in settlement talks at this time, saying there is “one last piece” before the case ends:
“The sentence was clear from the judge. There is one last piece about these investment contracts sold to institutions. We expect a resolution very soon, but we cannot predict exactly when the judge will rule.”
XRP Price Outlook
Increased expectations that the end of the case is approaching could be among the factors that have positively affected the valuation of XRP recently. The token’s price briefly topped $0.63 on July 18, a level last seen in March, while its market capitalization topped $34 billion before returning to $32.5 billion. Thus, for a while, XRP became the sixth largest cryptocurrency.
Those curious to learn more about Ripple’s lawsuit against the SEC and how it could further affect the token’s price, feel free to check out our dedicated video below:
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