The legal battle between the SEC and Ripple Labs over XRP has become a pivotal moment for cryptocurrency regulation worldwide. Despite the recent bullish market, XRP has been stuck in a multi-year consolidation phase due to the ongoing lawsuit.
While other altcoins have experienced significant gains of over 100% in the past two weeks, XRP has only seen a modest increase of around 20%. However, on Friday, heavy liquidations caused XRP’s price to drop by 10% in the past 24 hours, bringing it to around 62 cents.
Last year, District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP sold on centralized exchanges did not violate securities laws, providing some relief to the Ripple community. The SEC also dropped charges against Ripple’s top executives. The focus of the case has now shifted to March 22, when the regulator will issue important opening briefs on the proposed remedies for XRP.
The outcome of the case will have a significant impact on the price of XRP and the altcoin industry as a whole. A recent study by Consensys revealed that 42% of Americans believe heavy regulation is necessary to protect investors and prevent destabilization of traditional financial markets.
Despite the legal challenges, XRP has managed to break out of a long-term downtrend and is currently retesting the breakout level, with hopes of a rally towards $1. With a market capitalization of over $62 billion and a daily trading volume of $4.2 billion, XRP is widely traded as a commodity in most jurisdictions.
From a technical perspective, XRP has solid support around $0.5758, which coincides with the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level. If Ripple emerges victorious in the civil trial, XRP could potentially experience a historic breakout and reach a new all-time high.
The outcome of the case is particularly crucial for Ripple’s cross-border payment services, as the United States market plays a significant role in its operations.