Disclaimer: The information presented does not constitute financial, investment, trading, or other types of advice and is solely the writer’s opinion.
XRP followed Ethereum [ETH] and Bitcoin’s [BTC] price movements recently, giving traders a glimmer of hope after a dwindling price movement in the last week of trading.
While the market conditions were predominantly bearish, the Ripple coin’s network activity also saw a drop in the last week as its daily active addresses fell along with its transaction count.
Ripple’s strained relationship with SEC
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently disclosed that the company is considering IPO possibilities outside the United States, citing a strained relationship with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Garlinghouse raised concerns about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approach while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Despite Ripple’s desire to go public, the company has temporarily delayed its IPO ambitions due to an ongoing legal dispute with the SEC.
Garlinghouse stated that the company is considering an IPO outside the United States due to the regulator’s “hostile” operating environment. He said,
“We have looked at other jurisdictions that have clear rules of the road.”
However, he also noted that Ripple does not require an urgent IPO for its development. The CEO added,
“Honestly, a lot of people go public because they need to raise capital. Ripple’s not really in a place where we need to raise capital.”
Ripple Labs 101
XRP is a cryptocurrency that Ripple Labs uses to conduct transactions on its network.
While Ripple is a centralized fintech company that began as RipplePay in 2004, it was later co-founded by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb in 2012 with the vision of creating a faster and more secure way of doing transactions around the world.
Although the two have been used interchangeably, Ripple is a technology company whereas XRP is its open-source digital asset.
The crypto operates on its blockchain known as the XRP ledger (XRPL) where transactions are facilitated by RTXP or the Ripple transaction protocol.
It is pre-mined, unlike a lot of other cryptocurrencies, with a maximum token supply of 100 billion. The main purpose of the crypto is to serve as a settlement layer that aids in transactions with the Ripple network.
It has been, however, traded as a cryptocurrency that is available on various exchanges including options, swap exchanges, spot exchanges, futures, custodian and non-custodian exchanges.
XRP vs. SEC: The clash
The United States SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs in 2020 for selling XRP as an “unlicensed security,” claiming that the distribution of $1.3 billion worth of the crypto to its stakeholders violated the law.
The major bone of contention here was whether XRP was a security and, therefore, whether it was a share in Ripple or if it was a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
Ripple has been at loggerheads with the SEC for a few years now.
The SEC claimed that Ripple’s sale of XRP to investors was to fund itself and relied on the 1946 SEC judgment of SEC vs. W.J. Howey Co. to make its case.
In doing so, the agency stated that whether an investor has control over profit is a deciding factor if an investment contract is a security or not.
Ripple Labs, on the other hand, argued that the SEC had neither notified nor warned the organization.
After three years of deliberation, the case was finally ruled on in July 2023. The court found that XRP was NOT a security in itself.
The SEC was also denied the request for an interlocutory appeal and, later, had to drop its securities violation charges against Ripple and XRP.
The SEC got authority over cryptocurrency sales to institutions, whereas crypto-transactions on exchanges would not be treated as securities transactions.
ChatGPT’s take on XRP’s future
While ChatGPT is not equipped with the latest information and does not make any future predictions, I used a jailbreak and asked it about what lies in the future for XRP, keeping in perspective the current scenario.
When asked what the future looks like for XRP, given the favorable court ruling, the bot responded by stating that the crypto could see short-term momentum as investor confidence increases.
This could, however, slow down a bit in the long term as the market is affected by various factors such as adoption, sentiment, and regulatory clarity.
The bot also stated that positive developments on the legal front are a positive sign.
However, it is also crucial to keep track of other developments and potential regulatory changes that could influence the price of XRP going forward.
Source: ChatGPT
When I gave ChatGPT some context with Bitcoin and Ethereum’s press time price and asked what would be the price of XRP in the first quarter of 2024, the bot made a bold claim that the crypto would hit $10 per token.
It called this high the “comeback of the century,” but also warned that its predictions are just speculative, and the actual prices may vary significantly.
Source: ChatGPT
Finally, I asked if the crypto would surpass its ATH in 2024. The bot gave me a confident answer, stating that XRP will “blow past” its ATH in 2024 and hit unprecedented heights, leaving its previous all-time high in the dust.
XRP’s current charts
Source: XRP/USD, TradingView
XRP was trading at $0.5325 at the time of writing, eyeing a 4.05% drop in its price in the last week of trading.
The Awesome Oscillator (AO) for the most part saw red bars forming below the 0-level, showing a reinforced bearish momentum in the market.
This sentiment was echoed by the Relative Strength Index or RSI which reflected a reading of 39 below the 50-mark. If the price tests the $0.5417 level and goes past it, then XRP can see a move further upwards.
Conclusion
While XRP’s price has seen a slight upward movement in the past few days, the coin still has to do a lot better to register a bullish trend on the charts.
ChatGPT, however, had a very optimistic point of view about the future of the Ripple coin and whether it has a “comeback of the century” this year.
ChatGPT is a useful tool for people who trade and strategize their investments, however, it is advisable to do your own research before investing in the cryptosphere.
Source: https://ambcrypto.com/chatgpt-xrp-price-prediction-jan-28/