- SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit is likely to enter its final pretrial conference on Tuesday under Judge Sarah Netburn.
- XRP holders and proponents anticipate settlement talks between the two parties to avoid the trial phase.
- XRP price is struggling to overcome resistance at $0.50, falling to $0.48 on Tuesday.
XRP is struggling with resistance at $0.50 as Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are gearing up for the final pretrial conference on Tuesday at a New York court. This conference will allow both parties to explore settlement options before the official trial phase begins. The legal calendar shows the date and time, so the conference is planned and may proceed as scheduled.
Daily digest market movers: final pretrial conference could influence XRP price
- SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit proceedings have acted as a catalyst for XRP price since 2020. The latest development is the final pretrial conference, mentioned in the legal calendar of a New York court, which is expected to begin on Tuesday at 18:00 GMT (14:00 local time).
- While some XRP holders expect a settlement between the two parties, such an agreement is unlikely if the US regulator decides to appeal the XRP programmatic sales ruling of Judge Analisa Torres.
Civil and criminal proceedings calendar
- On July 13, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is a non-security in its secondary market sales on exchanges. This programmatic sales ruling, which was widely considered a victory for Ripple, is likely to be appealed by the SEC.
- Ashley Prosper, XRP proponent and crypto influencer, shared his insights on why a settlement between the two parties is likely in a recent tweet on X.
#XRP #XRPCommunity
Is the Ripple case over? Let me count the ways…
➡️2nd Circuit says no SEC disgorgement where no financial loss was suffered.
➡️SEC submits terrible remedies and judgment brief, failing to identify a single investor who suffered financial loss at the hands of… https://t.co/uP5MpCgsUk— Ashley PROSPER (@AshleyPROSPER1) April 12, 2024
- It is important to note that the final pretrial conference may or may not lead to a settlement in the lawsuit.
Technical analysis: XRP struggles to recoup from drop below $0.50
XRP flipped $0.50 support to resistance on Saturday after holding up above this level for nearly six months. If the downside persists, XRP could sweep liquidity below $0.4717, the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level of the altcoin’s drop from the April 9 top at $0.6431 to the April 13 bottom at $0.4717.
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator on the daily chart supports a thesis of further correction since the red histogram bars persist.
XRP price could find support at the April 13 low of $0.4188 and the weekly support level at $0.4117 if the downside persists.
XRP/USDT 1-day chart
A daily candlestick close above $0.50, a resistance level that is significant to XRP, could invalidate the bearish thesis. XRP price could surge to $0.5310, the 50% Fibonacci retracement level of the aforementioned decline from April 9 to April 13.
Further up, the altcoin faces resistance at the psychologically important $0.60 level in its path to the April 9 local top at $0.6431.
SEC vs Ripple lawsuit FAQs
It depends on the transaction, according to a court ruling released on July 14: For institutional investors or over-the-counter sales, XRP is a security. For retail investors who bought the token via programmatic sales on exchanges, on-demand liquidity services and other platforms, XRP is not a security.
The United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Ripple and its executives of raising more than $1.3 billion through an unregistered asset offering of the XRP token. While the judge ruled that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, sales of XRP tokens to institutional investors are indeed investment contracts. In this last case, Ripple did breach the US securities law and will need to keep litigating over the around $729 million it received under written contracts.
The ruling offers a partial win for both Ripple and the SEC, depending on what one looks at. Ripple gets a big win over the fact that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, and this could bode well for the broader crypto sector as most of the assets eyed by the SEC’s crackdown are handled by decentralized entities that sold their tokens mostly to retail investors via exchange platforms, experts say. Still, the ruling doesn’t help much to answer the key question of what makes a digital asset a security, so it isn’t clear yet if this lawsuit will set precedent for other open cases that affect dozens of digital assets. Topics such as which is the right degree of decentralization to avoid the “security” label or where to draw the line between institutional and programmatic sales are likely to persist.
The SEC has stepped up its enforcement actions toward the blockchain and digital assets industry, filing charges against platforms such as Coinbase or Binance for allegedly violating the US Securities law. The SEC claims that the majority of crypto assets are securities and thus subject to strict regulation. While defendants can use parts of Ripple’s ruling in their favor, the SEC can also find reasons in it to keep its current strategy of regulation by enforcement.
The court decision is a partial summary judgment. The ruling can be appealed once a final judgment is issued or if the judge allows it before then. The case is in a pretrial phase, in which both Ripple and the SEC still have the chance to settle.
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