Earlier this week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse made the groundbreaking announcement that the SEC has decided to drop its appeal against the latest developments on the lawsuit, which he said means the case is now over.
The statement had a dramatic and immediate effect on XRP’s price, even though the asset has calmed since then. But did some XRP investors have a gut feeling about the lawsuit closure, or did they know something more than the rest of us?
Did They Know?
Such a massive announcement coming from a high-profile case that was active for over four years led to an immediate double-digit price surge for XRP as it skyrocketed from $2.3 to a multi-week peak of $2.6 within an hour or so. This made it the top performer on a 24-hour scale and even helped it surpass USDT in terms of market cap.
However, that was short-lived, as XRP has erased almost all gains and now sits at just over $2.4, and USDT is back in the top three.
Santiment’s analysis on the matter indicated that certain XRP investors’ stash, holding at least a million tokens, had grown by 6.5% in the past two months leading to Garlinghouse’s announcement. There were multiple hints and signs that the case could actually be over soon, including other similar lawsuits ending and former White House officials claiming it was already closed.
Additionally, the analytics firm said Ripple network activity skyrocketed in March, with 6x more unique wallets interacting with it compared to previous months. This was in stark contrast with most other blockchain networks, which have seen an outflow of users in recent months.
What’s Next for XRP?
The ever-vocal XRP army didn’t wait long before it started outlining big price predictions for the asset after the landmark victory. However, there’s also the opposite narrative that the cryptocurrency could actually experience a typical ‘sell-the-news’ moment .
Its price shot up by triple-digits after Trump’s win in the US elections last year, mostly on hype that there will be big changes in the country’s regulatory landscape. However, it has failed to maintain its run even though those changes indeed arrived and XRP was even mentioned by Trump to be included in the nation’s strategic crypto reserve.
Now that the hype has passed and the case has seemingly come to a close, will XRP defy the expectations and head toward a much-anticipated new all-time high, or will it tumble in a classic ‘sell-the-news’ move?
