XRP price steadies above $0.56 ahead of deadline in SEC v. Ripple lawsuit

• XRP price climbed to $0.5627 on Monday, yielding over 6% weekly gains for holders. 
• SEC v. Ripple lawsuit’s remedies-related discovery phase is drawing to an end on February 20. 
• Ripple whales have consistently accumulated in the past month; retail investors and small wallet holders shed their XRP holdings. 

XRP price is $0.5593 on Monday, the altcoin has yielded nearly 6% weekly gains for XRP holders in the past week. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple has a key deadline on February 20 and it will enter a new phase, with the end of remedies-related discovery, a phase in which there is formal exchange of information. 

Also read: XRP price could climb to $1 target if Ripple scores another win in SEC lawsuit

Daily Digest Market Movers: SEC v. Ripple lawsuit enters new phase on February 20

• SEC v. Ripple lawsuit will see a formal end of its remedies-related discovery phase on February 20. 
• The payment remittance firm had requested the court for a one week extension of the deadline, the initial deadline was February 12. 
• The presiding Judge granted the request to allow Ripple to take additional time to compile the information requested by the SEC, regarding post-complaint (post lawsuit) institutional sales of XRP. 
• February 20 marks a key date in the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit and XRP holders are in anticipation of the next steps in the legal battle. 
• Typically, post the discovery phase, both sides are either in agreement of strengths and weaknesses of each side and enter settlement talks or summary judgements or proceed to a trial that involves additional expenses and risk. 
• XRP’s large wallet holders have consistently added the altcoin to their holdings in the past month, according to data from crypto intelligence tracker Santiment. 
• Small holders and retail investors have shed their XRP holdings in the same timeframe, as seen in the chart below. 

XRP holdings of investors in different segments. Source: Santiment 

• In the past week there has been a decline in whale transactions valued at $100,000 and higher and profit-taking by large wallet investors has slowed down, according to the Network Realized Profit/Loss metric by Santiment. 
• These on-chain metrics paint a bullish picture for XRP price, the altcoin is likely to continue climbing higher in the coming weeks. 

Technical Analysis: XRP price likely to rally to $0.60 in its uptrend

XRP price is in an uptrend that started at the end of January 2024. XRP price rallied to a high of $0.5627, early on Monday and the asset is likely to continue its climb towards the psychologically important level of $0.60. 

XRP price faces three key resistances in its uptrend, at 50% Fibonacci retracement of the decline from the January 2024 high, at $0.5629, 61.8% Fibonacci retracement at $0.5812 and the $0.60 level. 

The Moving Average Convergence/ Divergence (MACD) indicator shows green bars, signaling that there is positive momentum. XRP price uptrend is likely intact, according to green bars on the Awesome Oscillator (AO). 

XRP/USDT 1-day chart 

A daily candlestick close below the 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement level could invalidate the bullish thesis and signal that a sweep of the $0.5446 low is likely before XRP resumes its climb towards $0.60.