XRP price recovery likely catalyzed by upcoming lawsuit deadline and key events for XRP holders

XRP price holds above the $0.62 level on Monday, recovering from its recent decline.
The 2024 XRP Gold Coast conference, the Digital Asset Summit, and the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit deadline are the key events lined up for XRP.
XRP supply on exchanges and active addresses decline on the weekly timeframe, signaling drop in demand among traders.

XRP price wiped out its weekly gains over the weekend but managed to stay above $0.62 early on Monday. XRP price begins recovery on Monday as traders anticipate activity in the altcoin with upcoming events.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse will speak at the Digital Asset Summit 2024, alongside Ripple Senior Vice President Markus Infanger on Monday. Their words could become a market-moving event for XRP is the native token of the XRP Ledger payment network developed by Ripple.

Also read: XRP price plummets to $0.67 as holders brace for SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit deadline

Daily digest market movers: XRP holders gear up for Ripple-related events

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Senior Vice President Markus Infanger are lined up to speak on Monday at the Digital Asset Summit, which is held in London. Garlinghouse is expected to talk about “Why crypto is close to regulatory clarity” at around 11:50 GMT, while Infanger will participate in a panel about crypto payments at 14:40 GMT.

We're proud to sponsor @Blockworks_ Digital Asset Summit in London, March 18-20.

Ripple CEO @bgarlinghouse and SVP of RippleX, @mwak77, will be speaking at @BlockworksDAS!️ https://t.co/uJ0JZYwWGM
— Ripple (@Ripple) March 18, 2024

The XRP Gold Coast conference, to be held on March 22 to 24, will host Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton, pro-crypto attorney Bill Morgan and Neil Smith, partner engineer at Ripple. This event is key to holders since XRP and Ripple proponents are set to share their views and predictions on the altcoin’s price and likely influence the sentiment among holders.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple has a key deadline on March 22, when the SEC will present its remedies-related opening brief. The lawsuit holds significance for the XRP community and the lawsuit’s progress is likely to influence where the altcoin is headed next in the coming weeks.
On-chain data tracker Santiment shows that active addresses and the altcoin’s supply on exchanges has declined. XRP supply is in a downtrend throughout March and activity in XRP has decreased, in line with the recent correction in the asset’s price.
The active addresses metric gauges the utility and demand for the altcoin among market participants. The current decline suggests there is a decrease in activity on the XRP Ledger.

XRP Active Addresses. Source: Santiment

The token’s supply on exchanges helps ascertain the selling pressure on the asset. A dip in exchange supply implies there is a decrease in the volume of the tokens in exchange wallets and less XRP is available for sale. This reduces the selling pressure on the asset, which tends to help prices.

XRP Supply on Exchanges. Source: Santiment

Technical analysis: XRP price could recover to $0.74

XRP price has steadied above $0.62 after the weekend’s decline below $0.60. This $0.60 level is a key psychological mark for XRP, as it is $0.57, because the asset’s price has rebounded from thesel thresholds on several occasions in the past two months.

The red bars on the Awesome Oscillator (AO) signal that a correction is likely and the XRP price uptrend is not likely intact. Further, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) reads 51.90, close to the neutral level at 50. This indicator does not point at any directional change in XRP price trend. In this context, XRP could extend falls and revisit the $0.57 support.

XRP/USDT 1-day chart

Looking up, a daily candlestick close above the $0.62 level could see XRP price rally towards the March 11 high at $0.74, making less likely a sweep toward the $0.57 support.

(This story was corrected on March 18 at 07:53 GMT to say that Ripple CEO is Brad Garlinghouse, not Garlinghosue.)

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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