XRP eyes further correction as SEC will “possibly” appeal Ripple ruling
|- -The US SEC “will probably” appeal the July 2023 lawsuit ruling against Ripple, according to a former SEC lawyer.
- Pro-Ripple attorney John Deaton explains why the SEC could lose any appeal and how it could impact the status of XRP as a security.
- XRP trades broadly unchanged on Friday after losing more than 1% earlier in the day.
Ripple (XRP) trades with minor losses on Friday as holders weigh the impact of a likely appeal by the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Ripple lawsuit.
While the final ruling in the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit was considered as a partial victory for both parties, aFox Business journalist Eleanor Terret said on X that the regulator is likely to appeal, citing a former SEC lawyer as a source. An appeal could impact XRP price as it brings into question the legal clarity of the altcoin as a non-security in transactions on crypto exchange platforms.
Daily digest market movers: XRP legal clarity at risk
- A former SEC lawyer told Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terret that the SEC will “probably” appeal the ruling in the lawsuit, raising concerns among XRP traders.
NEW: A former @SECGov lawyer who recently left the agency tells me the SEC will ‘probably’ appeal Judge Torres’s July 2023 ruling concerning the $XRP programmatic sales in the @Ripple case partly because: “everyone over there [at the SEC] truly believes that the decision is…
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) September 26, 2024
NEW: A former @SECGov lawyer who recently left the agency tells me the SEC will ‘probably’ appeal Judge Torres’s July 2023 ruling concerning the $XRP programmatic sales in the @Ripple case partly because: “everyone over there [at the SEC] truly believes that the decision is…
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) September 26, 2024
- The SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit ended on what was considered a positive note for both parties. While the regulator obtained over twelve times the penalty proposed by Ripple ($125 million vs. $10 million), Ripple continued with its business and gained legal clarity on XRP as a non-security when sold through exchanges.
- In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security in its transactions on cryptocurrency exchanges. However, if the SEC appeals, it questions the legal clarity of XRP as a non-security and requires the Judge to apply the Howey Test yet again to determine whether it satisfies the criteria to be considered a security, pro crypto attorney John Deaton said on X.
- Deaton concludes that it would be “a total waste of taxpayer money” to go through with the appeal since XRP fails to fulfill the requirements of the Howey Test, specifically the “common enterprise” factor, making it unlikely that the SEC appeal changes the initial ruling.
As someone who knows the @Ripple case very well, considering I was an active litigant for over 2 1/2 years, and considering Judge Torres cited my Amicus Brief, and the 3,800 XRP Holder Affidavits I submitted, as well as my efforts, as Amicus Counsel, in the @LBRYcom case (see… https://t.co/Ot7AgoFQh7
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) September 26, 2024
As someone who knows the @Ripple case very well, considering I was an active litigant for over 2 1/2 years, and considering Judge Torres cited my Amicus Brief, and the 3,800 XRP Holder Affidavits I submitted, as well as my efforts, as Amicus Counsel, in the @LBRYcom case (see… https://t.co/Ot7AgoFQh7
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) September 26, 2024
- However, the uncertainty surrounding the process could impact sentiments of XRP traders as they digest the possible outcomes of an appeal.
Technical analysis: XRP could sweep liquidity at $0.5581
XRP is in a multi-month downward trend, but the altcoin has been trading sideways in the past few days, broadly holding above key support at $0.5800.
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator shows there is underlying positive momentum in XRP price trend, however green histogram bars are getting shorter, meaning it is likely waning. The MACD line could cross below the signal line, making it a bearish sign that traders need to watch out for.
In case of a downturn, XRP could sweep liquidity at $0.5581, a key level that acted as support throughout September. If it fails to hold this level, the next support emerges in the Fair Value Gap (FVG) between $0.5413 and $0.5556.
In an upside scenario, XRP could rally towards the $0.6200 level, the upper boundary of an FVG and a key resistance for the altcoin, once it sweeps liquidity in the imbalance zone.
XRP/USDT daily chart
SEC vs Ripple lawsuit FAQs
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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