In good news for those out there who are HODLing on for dear life while price watching like hawks, the XRP price rose sharply today following unsuccessful legal attempts by the US behemoth SEC to have key internal documents sealed up for good.
For those who need speeding up, there is an ongoing David-and-Goliath battle in the crypto world. Ripple Labs, owner of the XRP cryptocurrency, are being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC’s allegations against Ripple claim that they sold XRP illegally. Ripple, and pretty much all of the crypto community say this is rubbish. This dramatic legal battle started when the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020. The SEC also accuses Ripple’s executives, Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse, of assisting with these violations.
The full back story of this intriguing saga is here.
Common sentiment among a large percentage of crypto enthusiasts in the USA asserts that the SEC is in overreach mode, and trying to kill off the crypto industries. And it is working.
XRP price and crypto’s future
In a big win for Ripple, a judge ruled that the SEC couldn’t hide certain documents related to a speech by William Hinman, a former SEC director. This speech talked about whether cryptocurrencies like XRP should be considered securities or not, which is at the core of the SEC’s current pushback against the crypto industry. These documents are presumably full of juicy things that Ripple can use in the case to defend themselves, which the SEC wanted to keep hidden from the public. As a result of this ruling yesterday, the price of XRP shot up from US$0.42 (AU$0.63) on the 16th of May to US$0.46 (AU$0.69) at the time of writing, a day later. This is a rise of around 9.52%.
SEC drives crypto companies out of the US
Multiple US-based cryptocurrency companies are starting to move to countries where they have a better legal standing as a direct result of the recent wave of SEC crackdowns. The CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, has said many times that if Ripple loses against the SEC that they will simply move abroad and it will be business as usual.
Coinbase, the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange has talked about an overseas move, as has Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin. They are headed for Paris because “France is increasingly seen as a leader in crypto.” The Bittrex exchange exited also, citing regulatory challenges.
Following the decision to unseal the Hinman documents, Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, tweeted that more information from the speech would be made available from the papers. As the legal proceedings continue, the cryptocurrency market is staying tuned to the high-stakes case.
