Ripple makes a strategic move, while SEC cancels closed-doors meeting, XRP bleeds

08/01/2024 20:50:00 GMT|ByEkta Mourya

Ripple announced the arrival of tokenized US Treasury bills on the XRP Ledger in an official tweet on X.
XRP trader sentiment turns to fear on the Fear and Greed Index on CFGI.io.
XRP erases recent gains, suffers nearly 7% decline on Thursday.

Ripple (XRP) informed market participants of the arrival of tokenized US Treasury bills on the XRP Ledger through an official tweet on X. The announcement marks the firm’s strategic move at a time when XRP traders experience the uncertainty of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit.

XRP trades above $0.58 at the time of writing, erasing nearly 7% of its value on the day.

Daily digest market movers: Ripple makes key move while lawsuit ruling is awaited

Ripple revealed that tokenization platform OpenEden Labs is bringing tokenized US Treasury bills on the XRP ledger.
The payment remittance firm is creating a fund to invest in tokenized T-bills and plans to allocate $10 million to the firm’s TBILL tokens as a part of the initiative.
Ripple’s announcement failed to catalyze gains in XRP Ledger’s native token, XRP.

News alert – tokenization platform @OpenEden_Labs is bringing tokenized US Treasury bills (T-bills) to the #XRPL! What's more, Ripple is creating a fund to invest in tokenized T-bills, and will allocate USD$10M to OpenEden’s TBILL tokens as part of it. https://t.co/8GsG1Mk3ER
— RippleX (@RippleXDev) August 1, 2024

XRP traders are fearful, per the Fear and Greed Index on CFGI.io. The sentiment among traders is neutral on the 1-day timeframe, and the indicator shows “fear” is dominant on the four hour timeframe.
The SEC canceled its closed-doors meeting planned for August 1, per the regulator’s website.
The cancelation of the closed-doors meeting comes at a time when traders await a ruling in the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit.
XRP army member and influencer behind the X handle @BabaCugs says that the regulator has closed its case against Ripple and decided to settle instead of pushing for the $2 billion in penalties.
The influencer shared their comments in a tweet on X:

The SEC has closed its case against Ripple, ending the legal proceedings that began in March 2024. The case initially sought a $2 billion penalty and an injunction against XRP sales to institutional investors. However, the SEC decided to settle instead of pursuing these remedies.…
— BABA (@BabaCugs) July 31, 2024

Its important to note that @BabaCugs does not quote a source and shares no evidence of the regulator closing its case.

Technical analysis: XRP loses recent gains, bleeds 7% in one day

Ripple broke out of its downward trend on July 12. Since then the altcoin made steady gains, however in a recent turn of events, XRP suffered a steep correction, nearly 7% drop in a single day.

XRP erased recent gains and dipped to a low of $0.5766 on Thursday. The altcoin is likely to collect liquidity in the Fair Value Gap (FVG) between $0.5404 and $0.5783.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator supports the decline with the MACD line dipping under the signal line. This shows there is underlying negative momentum in XRP price trend.

XRP/USDT daily chart

A daily candlestick close above $0.60 could invalidate the bearish thesis and XRP could rally towards $0.6666, the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement of the decline from March 12 top of $0.7440 to the July 5 low of $0.3823.

SEC vs Ripple lawsuit FAQs

Is XRP a security?

It depends on the transaction, according to a court ruling released on July 14: For institutional investors or over-the-counter sales, XRP is a security. For retail investors who bought the token via programmatic sales on exchanges, on-demand liquidity services and other platforms, XRP is not a security.

How does the ruling affect Ripple in its legal battle against the SEC?

The United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Ripple and its executives of raising more than $1.3 billion through an unregistered asset offering of the XRP token. While the judge ruled that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, sales of XRP tokens to institutional investors are indeed investment contracts. In this last case, Ripple did breach the US securities law and will need to keep litigating over the around $729 million it received under written contracts.

What are the implications of the ruling for the overall crypto industry?

The ruling offers a partial win for both Ripple and the SEC, depending on what one looks at. Ripple gets a big win over the fact that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, and this could bode well for the broader crypto sector as most of the assets eyed by the SEC’s crackdown are handled by decentralized entities that sold their tokens mostly to retail investors via exchange platforms, experts say. Still, the ruling doesn’t help much to answer the key question of what makes a digital asset a security, so it isn’t clear yet if this lawsuit will set precedent for other open cases that affect dozens of digital assets. Topics such as which is the right degree of decentralization to avoid the “security” label or where to draw the line between institutional and programmatic sales are likely to persist.

Is the SEC stance toward crypto assets likely to change after the ruling?

The SEC has stepped up its enforcement actions toward the blockchain and digital assets industry, filing charges against platforms such as Coinbase or Binance for allegedly violating the US Securities law. The SEC claims that the majority of crypto assets are securities and thus subject to strict regulation. While defendants can use parts of Ripple’s ruling in their favor, the SEC can also find reasons in it to keep its current strategy of regulation by enforcement.

Can the court ruling be overturned?

The court decision is a partial summary judgment. The ruling can be appealed once a final judgment is issued or if the judge allows it before then. The case is in a pretrial phase, in which both Ripple and the SEC still have the chance to settle.

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