Why is the price of Ripple (XRP) rising today?

TL;DR

The price of XRP rose to a four-month high of $0.66 amid optimism about a possible resolution in Ripple’s lawsuit against the SEC. The number of XRP sharks and whales has increased, indicating confidence, but also potential volatility if large selling occurs. XRP on the go

The cryptocurrency sector continues to struggle today (July 31), with its global market cap briefly dipping below $2.5 trillion (according to CoinGecko data). Major digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are slightly in the red during the day, but this is not the case for XRP.

The price of Ripple’s native token has broken, rising to a four-month high of nearly $0.66 a few hours ago. It is currently trading around $0.64, representing a 7% increase on a 24-hour scale.

XRP Price, Source: CoinGecko

XRP’s latest bombshell comes amid growing expectations that the lawsuit between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could reach a conclusion. The case has been ongoing for more than three and a half years, but some experts believe a resolution could be just around the corner.

US Attorney Fred Rispoli recently predicted the entities could shake hands on a mutual settlement by July 31, while Jeremy Hogan believes the outcome could be announced before the end of the summer.

Some industry participants speculated that the SEC could discuss a possible settlement with Ripple during its closed-door meeting on July 25. However, the agency has not disclosed any information about it.

XRP’s rally also coincides with the SEC’s pivot regarding a complaint against Binance and some of the cryptocurrencies offered on its platform.

“The SEC informed the defendants that it intends to seek leave to amend its complaint, including with respect to “third-party crypto asset securities,” as defined in the Omnibus Opposition to the SEC to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, Dkt. No. 172, obviating the need for the Court to rule on the sufficiency of these pleadings at this time,” the amendment reads.

The Commission has previously accused Binance of offering and selling Solana (SOL), Binance Coin (BNB), Cardano (ADA) and other “Third Party Crypto Asset Securities” as investment contracts.

Recall that the lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC focuses on allegations that XRP is a security. Last summer, Judge Torres ruled that the company’s programmatic sales to secondary trading platforms do not constitute offers of investment contracts. The decision was seen as a massive (but partial) court victory for Ripple, leading to a double-digit price increase for XRP.

XRP Whales in motion

Crypto market intelligence platform Santiment revealed that the amount of wallets holding at least 10,000 XRP tokens has risen to a six-month high of nearly 280,000.

The growing number of sharks and whales could be interpreted as a sign of confidence and lead to more market participants entering the ecosystem.

On the other hand, large sales by these investors can create panic and negatively affect the price of XRP.

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