In an unexpected turn of events, XRP is the top-performing large-cap today. Over the last 24-hours, XRP has soared 16%, even spiking as high as $0.74 in the early hours of the European session.
Analysis of the chart shows a definite uptrend suggesting that, despite the difficulties endured due to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit, bulls continue to grow in confidence.
Source: XRPUSD on TradingView.com
The Latest Twist in SEC Lawsuit
The price of XRP tanked following the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple just before Christmas. Later on, key partners, including MoneyGram, jumped ship, and several exchanges also delisted the token.
According to the SEC, Ripple and two key executives had sold $1.3bn of unregistered securities. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse responded by calling the lawsuit an attack on the whole crypto industry. Despite his attempt to uplift the situation, the overriding sentiment at the time was one of fear.
“What I DON’T want is for you to worry. We will get through this, and we will prove our case in court. We have a phenomenal legal team and like I said, we are on the right side of the law to begin with. Know, however, that the legal system is slow, and this is just the beginning of a long, civil process.”
As the legal process has unfolded, Ripple’s defense arguments have become all the more compelling. At the same time, the SEC’s position seems increasingly weak.
The end of last month saw another partial win for Ripple. The judge presiding over the case granted the firm’s motion to temporarily seal four documents while ordering the two parties to agree on redactions. Ripple’s legal team convinced the judge to grant redactions on two emails.
The first is an email between Garlinghouse and an unknown person at Rippleworks – its social ventures project. The second relates to anonymous persons discussing the perception of XRP and Ripple’s influence on it.
XRP Almost Back to Pre-Lawsuit Price
The timing of the SEC lawsuit and the resignation of SEC Chair Jay Clayton soon after is a key talking point for observers. XRP was riding high at the time, having broken a near three-year slumber, peaking at $0.82.
All of that came crashing down following the announcement of legal action. What’s more, the uncertainty during a bull run has undoubtedly contributed to XRP’s slide down the market cap rankings.
After bottoming at $0.17 at the end of December, XRP has maintained an upwards momentum ever since. XRP is now at a point close to pre-lawsuit levels.
Nonetheless, the lawsuit is far from over. When asked if Ripple could operate without XRP, Garlinghouse said:
“We could do that. We’ve always thought about our product as ‘How do we solve a customer’s problem first and foremost?’ And I think that has served our growth. It’s a reason why we have seen so much activity now, billions and billions of dollars of transactions across Ripplenet, our network for payments.”
The firm still holds hope of reaching an agreement with the incoming SEC administration.