TL;DR
- Ripple’s partial court victory a year ago, where certain XRP sales were not deemed securities, boosted the asset’s price. The ongoing trial continues with disputes over penalties.
- XRP rose 23% in the past week, likely due to speculation that the lawsuit may soon conclude.
One Year Passed by
Despite the numerous developments in the past several months, the legal spat between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains ongoing. It all started in December 2020 when the regulator sued the company and some of its executives, accusing them of conducting an unregistered securities offering via XRP sales.
Ripple achieved a significant court victory almost exactly a year ago (on July 13) when Judge Torres ruled that its programmatic sales to secondary trading platforms do not constitute offers of investment contracts. The decision fueled a massive rally for XRP, whose price shot by over 70% in a matter of hours, surpassing the $0.80 mark.
Shortly after, the magistrates dismissed the SEC’s intention to appeal the ruling, while CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen were cleared of all charges brought by the agency.
According to some industry participants, those triumphs (yet partial ones) gave Ripple the upper hand in the battle. That said, a resolution in favor of the company could trigger massive volatility and a potential uptick in XRP’s price (similar to what was witnessed after the previous victories).
The lawsuit entered its trial phase in April this year. Instead of an outcome, though, it keeps offering additional confrontation. A bone of contention is the size of Ripple’s potential penalty. The SEC initially sought a staggering $2 billion fine, while the company insisted on a sum no larger than $10 million.
Ripple also pointed to Judge Amy Jackson’s decision to dismiss the SEC’s claims that secondary market sales of Binance’s BNB token constituted securities transactions. It filed a Notice of Supplemental Authority, arguing that the ruling supports its case that the alleged illegal sales of XRP do not warrant “harsh remedies.”
The SEC maintained that the lawsuit against Binance is “wholly irrelevant” to the one against Ripple. On the other hand, it softened its tone, proposing a reduced penalty of $102.6 million.
XRP Price Outlook
Ripple’s native token has been among the best performers in the crypto market in the past several days. It is up by 23% on a weekly scale, briefly surpassing the $0.55 mark for the first time since early May (per CoinGecko’s data).
One possible reason could be the increased expectation that the lawsuit is drawing to an end. Some of the people speculating that an official agreement could be announced as early as this summer include the American lawyers Fred Rispoli and Jeremy Hogan.
Those curious to learn more about the case and its potential impact on XRP’s price, feel free to take a look at our dedicated video below:
