TL;DR
- Ripple has gained an advantage in its legal battle with the SEC, securing several partial court victories and clearing top executives of charges.
- Speculation about a near-term resolution has possibly boosted XRP’s price, briefly making it the sixth-largest cryptocurrency.
Big News on the Horizon?
The legal battle between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dates back to December 2020, when the regulator accused the company and some of its executives of conducting an unregistered securities offering via certain XRP sales.
The lawsuit passed through countless developments in the past few years before entering its trial phase in April 2024. Some believe Ripple has gained the upper hand due to securing three partial court wins throughout 2023.
The first (and probably the most important so far) occurred almost exactly a year ago. Back then, Judge Torres ruled that the firm’s programmatic sales to secondary trading platforms do not constitute offers of investment contracts.
Shortly after, the magistrates dismissed the agency’s intention to appeal the decision, while Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen were cleared of all charges brought by the Commission.
The final resolution of the case has yet to be announced, and it might be prolonged indefinitely due to the complexity of the legal process and potential appeals from both sides. On the other hand, some experts believe an agreement is just around the corner.
The American lawyer Jeremy Hogan thinks the official end might come before the end of the summer, while Fred Rispoli set July 31 as a probable settlement date.
Ripple’s CEO Garlinghouse also gave his two cents on the matter, envisioning a resolution “very soon.” He did not reveal whether his company and the SEC are in settlement talks as of the moment, saying there is “one final piece” before the case gets wrapped up:
“The ruling has been clear from the judge. There is one final piece about these investment contracts sold to institutions. We expect a resolution very soon, but we can’t predict exactly when the judge will rule there.”
XRP Price Outlook
Increased expectations that the end of the case is near could be among the factors positively impacting the XRP valuation recently. The token’s price briefly surpassed $0.63 on July 18, a level last observed in March, while its market cap pumped above $34 billion before retracing to $32.5 billion. Thus, for a while, XRP became the sixth-biggest cryptocurrency.
Those curious to learn more about the Ripple v SEC lawsuit and how it might further affect the price of the token, feel free to take a look at our dedicated video below:
