Key Takeaways:
- Ripple filed an opposition against SEC’s Motion to Compel.
- SEC turned down Ripple’s offer of context specific Slack data.
- Ripple argued that Slack communications contain private information regarding Ripple’s marketing strategies.
NEW DELHI (CoinChapter.com) — The lawsuit between Ripple Labs and the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a new update. Ripple’s defense submitted a Motion to Seal certain portions of its Slack communications Motion to Compel filed by the SEC.
As per the letter addressed to Judge Sarah Netburn, Ripple met with the SEC and that the regulator may “consent to portions of Ripple’s sealing requests.”
At the same time, Ripple’s native crypto, XRP, fell by 7.67% between open and close levels on August 16 while breaking below its support levels.
Going Through The Motions?
In its latest filing, the defense argued that Ripple classified the documents demanded by the SEC in its Motion to Compel as Confidential and above. Hence, they are not judicial documents.
The defendants also pointed out that the exhibits marked by the SEC’s motion include documents that have confidential information “concerning Ripple’s business strategies” and details about its internal operations.
Ripple’s lawyers pointed out that Exhibits H and I should remain sealed, as both of these exhibits contain sensitive information. For example, Exhibit H has important details of Ripple employees’ slack communication. As such, its disclosure will be ‘highly invasive.’ There’s also a chance that Ripple’s competitors may exploit this information.
Moreover, the defendants noted that the SEC cites the information in Exhibit H to ‘merely state the number of Slack documents at issue.’.
Exhibit I is a 40-page compilation of slack messages classified as Confidential or above by Ripple ‘under the Protective Order.’. These messages detail Ripple’s internal strategies, its relationship with partners, and similar sensitive business information.
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The defendants argued that there is no benefit to the public in unsealing the documents and no harm to either the SEC or the people in keeping them sealed.
Earlier, on August 16, Ripple opposed the Slack communications Motion to Compel. It highlighted the little money and time required to discover additional Slack data demanded by the SEC.
The SEC’s disproportionate request is also unreasonably duplicative of Ripple’s extensive production of over one million pages of discovery, including emails, documents, text messages, and responsive Slack messages for 33 custodians.
Ripple in the opposition letter to SEC’s Motion to Compel, filed on August 16.
Additionally, Ripple also offered a bargain- the discovery of additional, context-specific Slack data. However, SEC turned down the offer.
XRP Prices Slip Below Support
Even as Ripple continued its legal battle, its token XRP fell below support at $1.20 to register its sharpest decline since June 22. However, on Tuesday, XRP tested support at $1.114 before rebounding upwards.
Moreover, XRP’s upwards rally brought its prices above the 50-Day (Green) and 200-Day (Yellow) Moving Averages trendline over the last three weeks, indicating XRP is bullish in the short and long-term ranges.
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The 26-Day (Red) Exponential MA line forms support at $0.898. However, if XRP breaches below immediate support, bulls will try to rally above the next support level at $0.985.
On the other hand, resistance lies at $1.359, a level that has capped upward movement between August 14 – 17. A breach above it would make $1.442 the next target for the bulls.
The MACD oscillator is strongly bullish for XRP, as the Ripple token charts positive bars on the MACD histogram. In detail, the MACD histogram plots the difference between the MACD line (12-day and 26-day difference of EMA) and the MACD signal line (9-Day EMA of MACD). A positive value on the histogram denotes bullish momentum and vice-versa.
While XRP’s MACD histogram bars are still positive, the declining height of the bars may indicate the bullish momentum is fading out.
At the same time, the Ripple token’s RSI is at 73.42, putting XRP into the overbought category. Traditional wisdom suggests an RSI value above 70 may forecast a trend reversal. However, XRP’s current run may take some time before dying out.
At the time of writing, XRP was trading at $1.19, up 0.37% on the day.
