Categories: Ripple

‘Chapter Closed’ as XRP Surges 5% on SEC Appeal Withdrawal

Judge Analisa Torres has denied a joint motion filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has disclosed that they would drop their cross appeal, hoping the SEC does the same to “close the chapter”.

CNF recently reported in a comprehensive update that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs have filed a joint motion at the Manhattan federal court to reverse an order that defines the primary sales of XRP and reduce the $125 million civil penalty imposed for breaching federal securities laws.

In that filing, $50 million of the amount held in escrow was proposed to go to the SEC, while $75 million was to be returned to Ripple, as also outlined in our recent coverage. However, Judge Analisa Torres has, in a recent ruling, denied this joint motion.

According to the ruling, both parties failed to prove the “exceptional circumstances” needed to vacate a final judgment. Basically, this judgment is reported to mean that XRP remains legally restricted from institutional sales. However, its retail sales remain unaffected.

Ripple Responds to the Ruling

Explaining what this means, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Stuart Alderoty, highlighted that the “ball is back in their court”. According to him, two main options have been given to them by the court – Ripple could either dismiss the appeal that challenges the finding on its institutional sales or continue with it. Most importantly, he clarified that XRP’s legal status as non-security has not changed.

Prior to this latest ruling, Pro-XRP lawyer Bill Morgan had indicated that the case could likely be prolonged if the judge rules against the joint motion. The reason is that both parties would have the option to proceed with their respective appeals.

Similarly, expert James Farrell predicted that the case could end quickly if the SEC approves the indicative ruling and the settlement. According to him, the case could have been settled months ago; however, Ripple’s interest in dissolving the injunction is what has prolonged the case, as noted in our earlier post. Meanwhile, the case is still coming to an end as Ripple boss Brad Garlinghouse discloses their decision to drop the cross-appeal.

In the post made on June 27, Garlinghouse hinted that the SEC is also expected to drop their appeal to “close the chapter once and for all”. The decision is to be able to focus on the building of the “Internet of Value.”

https://twitter.com/bgarlinghouse/status/1938705285323125151?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener

Soon after this post, XRP recorded a 5% surge on its daily price chart, moving from $2.0 to $2.2. At the time of writing, the price had taken a marginal nosedive to trade at $2.19. Similarly, its 24-hour trading volume had fallen by 1.4% with $3 billion changing hands.

According to our recent analysis, macro investor Raoul Paul has predicted that XRP is not yet done as it could more than double its value to reach the $5.5 level.

Similarly, another analyst called Zach Rector believes that XRP has the potential to reach $15. Unlike the others who restricted their predictions to technical formations, Rector used the market cap multiplier model to arrive at this conclusion, as explained in our last analysis.