Observers believe that the XRP price pump on Wednesday indicates that Ripple has the upper hand in the ongoing litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ripple’s native cryptocurrency XRP recently saw a price surge of 8% following an apparently ‘favorable’ court ruling. The digital currency’s jump came after the chief justice in the long-running Ripple vs SEC case rejected a request by the regulator.
XRP was trading at 46 US cents at 12:45 PM Singapore time on Wednesday. Furthermore, the recent surge in XRP price marks the cryptocurrency’s highest rally in seven weeks. This is likely because investors interpreted Judge Annalisa Torres’ ruling as pro-Ripple.
XRP remains the sixth largest digital currency in the world, with a market capitalization of nearly $24 billion.
The events that led to the XRP price pump
Yesterday, District Judge Torres denied the SEC’s request to seal William Hinman’s entire documentation. A district court judge ruled that the documents related to a speech the former SEC director gave in June 2018 were “relevant to the performance of the judicial function.” However, Judge Torres said she would allow the SEC to redact the personal information mentioned in the documents.
The US District Court judge’s ruling for the Southern District of New York referenced a similar ruling by a justice of the peace in the same court. In January of last year, Judge Sarah Knitbourn first ruled that Hinman letter documents should be turned over to Ripple as part of the ongoing case. Presently, Justice Torres writes:
As Judge Knitburn found in her order dated January 13, 2022, Hinman letter documents are not protected by deliberative privilege because they do not relate to the agency’s position, decision, or policy. Therefore, sealing these documents would not be associated with maintaining “openness and frankness” within the agency, nor would This interest is large enough to override the strong assumption of public access.”
Hinman documents refer to the SEC Corporation’s previous CFO’s 2018 letter on crypto and securities to Ripple. At the time, Hinman described Ether (ETH) as a non-security, and therefore not liable to be sealed by a court order. Hinman also added that Bitcoin (BTC) was “decentralized” (and therefore, not a security). However, Hinman’s assessment was contrary to legal standards that define securities.
The SEC v. Ripple case is believed to have been resolved with the district court ruling
With Hinman’s past position in mind, Judge Torres’ ruling is a blow to the SEC’s drawn-out lawsuit against Ripple. Conversely, the evolution of the referee could swing the tide in favor of the transfer network as CEO Brad Garlinghouse looks forward to an outcome. Garlinghouse recently chirp On the SEC’s double standards regarding cryptographic assignment. Furthermore, the CEO added that the securities regulator’s lack of clarity is hindering the growth of the crypto industry. The Garlinghouse thread also echoed other crypto leaders’ sentiments that the SEC is fighting its way through enforcement action. He believes that all actions should follow established rules instead.
In 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Ripple for failing to register XRP as a security. The regulator has long held the belief that most tokens are securities and therefore fall under the same regulatory domain. Meanwhile, observers widely believe that the final outcome of the Ripple vs SEC case will have far-reaching implications for the digital asset space in the United States.
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Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify cryptocurrency stories down to the bare essentials so that anyone anywhere can understand without much background knowledge. When not deep into cryptocurrency stories, Tolo enjoys music, loves to sing, and is a movie lover.
