Ripple soars 25% as uncertainty over legal ambiguity fades

TL;DR Breakdown

•  XRP is up about 25% owing to developments in Ripple’s SEC case.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit with Ripple has been ongoing since late 2020.
• Several documents have been unsealed by order from Judge Analisa Torres, which prompted investors to respond favorably.

The demand for XRP has been extremely high among investors, owing to the potential outcome of Ripple‘s lawsuit against the US SEC. There is a lot of optimism surrounding the court case, in which the SEC claims that Ripple sold XRP as unlawful securities.

Ripple vs. SEC

According to court documents, XRP has been permitted by Judge Analisa Torres to respond to the SEC’s Memorandum of Law in support of the Motion to Strike fair notice defence. The lawsuit between Ripple and SEC began in December 2020.

In a stunning development, the federal court judge has refused to seal evidence against XRP in the interest of the general public. The judge ruled that three exhibits must be made available, and two of them received a lot of attention from the public.

Exhibit 179-4 showed Brad Garlinghouse, XRP CEO, telling staff about XRP holders’ expectations towards the digital asset. The exhibit also covers its decision to lock up 55 billion XRP in escrow to address concerns.

Exhibit 179-5 depicts Chris Larsen, a Ripple co-founder, communicating with an XRP holder about the XRP price fluctuations. Following the unsealing of both exhibits, the SEC might move to argue that Ripple sold unregistered security offerings.

However, the Ripple counsel may argue that Brad’s statements were not meant for potential XRP holders but employees. Additionally, Chris Larsen’s email chain has a Portuguese national named Carlos as his counterpart. The SEC does not cover sales of XRP to non-American nationals because they don’t fall under the Securities Act of 1933.

XRP’s price surges

Following the case’s reversal, the cryptocurrency community awaits word on whether Ripple’s fair defence will survive. Meanwhile, XRP has increased by more than 25% in the last 24 hours.

According to data from Coinmarketcap, the number of transactions has increased 160% as the tokens’ value changed hands at $5.52 billion during the analyzed period. XRP has experienced a significant price increase in the last few hours, pushing its market capitalization to about $42 billion, putting it ahead of Cardano and Solana.

The number of transactions on RippleNet has nearly tripled, with a payment volume run rate of more than $10 billion. According to CoinMarketCap, XRP’s price rallied from $0.60 on Thursday to $0.90 by Tuesday. Later on, XRP fell slightly from these highs on Tuesday morning, when it was priced at $0.85 (up 12.6% in the previous 24 hours).