XRP price holds above crucial support while Ripple alleges government overreach

• Ripple price is in a downward channel on the 12-hour chart.
• On a longer-term basis, XRP is shaping a symmetrical triangle.
• Ripple executives categorically refute the new SEC investigation attempts.

The battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) escalated yesterday as the distributed ledger startup’s top executives submitted a protective order regarding their personal information. XRP price has been falling on the news.

SEC asking to troll defendant’s financial records

The two executives in question, Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen submitted a letter to the Southern District Court in New York on Thursday asking the judge to block subpoenas sent by the SEC to six different banks requesting access to their personal financial information.

Lawyers of the two Ripple executives stated that the SEC was overreaching the proper scope of its investigations by alleging that the defendants had intertwined their personal finances with those of the firm. The initial focus of the investigation was transactions related to the unregistered sale of 14.6 billion XRP, worth roughly $1.3 billion at the time, to retail investors beginning in 2013. 

To fulfill the initial SEC’s requests, Garlinghouse and Larsen had previously agreed to turn over all trading records related to the sales of the XRP tokens in question and financial records regarding their compensation from Ripple.

The new legal requests focuses on unrelated business activities such as day-to-day spending, including money orders, checks, and electronic wire transfers.

As drafted, therefore, these requests demand everything from the proceeds of unrelated business activities to how much money they spend at the grocery store every week.

Ripple price plunged 78% late last year after the lawsuit was announced. It recovered the losses in January and February of the present year, but retail investors have had to manage significant swings ever since.

XRP price action reflects the legal tension

The 12-hour chart below shows a clear downward channel for XRP price, showing the uncertainty unleashed by Ripple’s legal issues. 

However, the current candlestick is working on a bullish hammer formation as the wick is more than three times as long as the body. In other words, the open and the close are occurring within the top one-third of the candlestick’s trading range.

The downward channel is occurring in a symmetrical triangle extending back to the February high. Ripple price is nearing the apex of the triangle signaling that the cryptocurrency is near a breakout.

If the hammer holds on the 12-hour chart, it raises the odds that the symmetrical triangle will resolve to the upside with the longer-term potential to climb over 54% based on the formation’s measured move. 

As long as the lower trendline holds, the risk is tilted to the upside.

XRP/USD 12-hour chart

On the other hand, if the triangle’s lower trendline fails, it will project a decline to the February 28 low at $0.395 in short order. Further price deterioration will raise the odds for Ripple to drop to the next critical support level at $0.362, late’s February swing low.