SEC offered to announce XRP is a security, three years ago: Ripple CLO spills the truth

• Ripple was offered a settlement by the US SEC three years ago on December 23, according to CLO Stuart Alderoty. 
• The SEC would announce to the market that XRP is a security and the market would be given a short window to “come into compliance.”
• Ripple turned down the SEC’s offer and argued that XRP is not a security.

Ripple has been embroiled in a legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since 2020. Reflecting on the SEC’s offer to Ripple, Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty, said that the payment remittance firm refused the settlement offered by the regulator.

XRP on-chain metrics indicate likelihood of correction in the altcoin.

Also read: XRP Price Annual Forecast: Upbeat outlook for 2024 hinges on SEC lawsuit ruling, potential Ripple IPO

Ripple CLO drops details of SEC settlement offer from 2020

Alderoty shared details of the US financial regulator’s settlement offer to the payment remittance firm in 2020. The Ripple CEO said that prior to filing the lawsuit, the SEC offered to announce to the market that XRP is a security and give market participants a short window to “come into compliance.”

Ripple refused the offer for two reasons, first being XRP is not a security and second that the SEC never built a framework for crypto compliance. Alderoty argues that irrespective of the spin put on the lawsuit by former SEC officials, Ripple wanted to prove a point that XRP is not in and of itself a security. 

XRP on-chain metrics reveal bearish outlook on altcoin

XRP price is likely headed towards a correction, according to altcoin's on-chain metrics. Ripple whales holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP tokens added another 360 million XRP to their holdings in the past week. 

XRP holdings of whale wallets between 10 million and 100 million. Source: Santiment

The addition of $223 million in XRP to whale holdings is not typically bearish. However, when combined with profit-taking activities recorded by the Network Realized Profit/Loss metric, it is evident that large wallet investors are realizing gains in XRP. 

XRP whale transaction count and Network Realized Profit/Loss. Source: Santiment

The increase in XRP holdings of whales is therefore likely to drive the altcoin’s price lower, amidst rising selling pressure on the asset.

At the time of writing, XRP price is $0.6149 on Binance.

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