By
Bena Ilyas
April 29th, 2024
Despite the recent SEC vs Ripple summary judgment that largely ruled that XRP is not a security, the SEC has shown intentions to appeal its case in the 2nd Circuit.
The Ripple-related digital asset, XRP, has enjoyed a relatively bullish outlook in the past few weeks following the recent ruling by United States District Judge Analisa Torres. Notably, the XRP price has gained about 45 percent in the past month to trade around 70 cents on Wednesday, June 26, 2023. However, the XRP gains have significantly dwindled in the past few days amid a significant decline in trading volume. According to market data provided by Binance-backed CoinMarketCap, XRP’s daily traded volume has dropped from about $14 billion at the beginning of July to about $1.7 billion on Wednesday.
The waning XRP demand has been caused by several factors, among them a decline in institutional demand. Moreover, the XRP institutional sales were deemed securities, a decision that perhaps did not resonate well with most investors. Moreover, other digital assets, including XRP sister coin in cross-border payments XLM, have enjoyed relatively calm regulatory scrutiny in the United States and other global jurisdictions.
XRP and Ripple Performance
The XRP and Ripple market are largely intertwined since the latter has not been profitable without the former sales. Ripple has been criticized for over-centralizing the XRP market and still advocating it to be deemed a decentralized digital asset. Moreover, Ripple holds nearly half of the total supply of XRP in an escrow, which releases 1 billion units per month. In comparison to Ethereum and Bitcoin, XRP is a centralized digital asset.
The XRP ecosystem had a market capitalization of about $37.3 billion and a fully diluted valuation of about $70.9 billion. The value is, however, likely to drop in the coming weeks as the initial XRP bullish outlook dwindles. Investors in the XRP market are likely to face another legal litigation after the SEC signaled an upcoming appeal in the 2nd Circuit. Notably, the SEC during a court filing against Terraform Labs and its former CEO Do Kwon highlighted that the recent Ripple ruling was largely flawed since it subjected the decades-old Howey test to scrutiny and different interpretations.
Meanwhile, the Ripple executive team led by CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty have severally reiterated that the SEC has no jurisdiction in the cryptocurrency market. As a result, they argue that the XRP market should be left to flourish like in other jurisdictions.
30+ years as a lawyer, and crypto is, without a doubt, the most fascinating industry I’ve been a part of.
Thank you @jacqmelinek for having me on to discuss what the lawsuit decision means, where the SEC has jurisdiction (and more importantly where it doesn’t), and much more. https://t.co/lozorZeTyL
— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) July 25, 2023
XRP Price
XRP price is expected to ultimately hit the upper border, around $1.3, of a macro wedge consolidation that started in 2017. Meanwhile, crypto analysts expect XRP price actions to possibly push lower toward a support zone between 54 and 58 cents before securing a rebound toward a new high for 2023.
