YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, has expressed skepticism about reaching a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which initiated a lawsuit against it in December 2020.
We Are Willing to Fight SEC, Assures Alderoty
Alderoty has highlighted the SEC’s historical difficulties in similar cases, suggesting that the regulatory body often has not succeeded when its interpretations have been challenged up to the Supreme Court level. He argues that this pattern might continue if the Ripple case reaches higher courts.
SEC vs. Ripple Recap: The SEC accused Ripple of conducting an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP, the cryptocurrency associated with Ripple. However, in July 2023, a district court headed by Judge Analisa Torres determined that XRP is not a security in retail transactions, a judgment viewed as a partial victory for Ripple, given the same ruling that said that XRP sales made to institutions were deemed unlawful.
Ripple is prepared to continue its legal battle, believing strongly in its chance of ultimate success. Past judicial trends favor entities against SEC overreach, reinforcing this confidence. Ripple also perceives the SEC’s enforcement strategy as aggressive and without proper legislative backing.
SEC vs. Ripple Continues to Hurt XRP
The ongoing legal uncertainty surrounding the SEC vs. Ripple case has notably impacted XRP’s market performance. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, which revisited or surpassed their 2017 peak values during subsequent bull markets, XRP has struggled to regain its high of around $3.30, as shown below.
This stagnation is largely due to unresolved legal questions over whether the Ripple crypto is a security or a commodity under U.S. law. This has left investors cautious and the cryptocurrency’s price under continuous pressure.
XRP’s price is now attempting to break below its multi-year ascending trendline support at around $0.50. Macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures led by the Iran-Israel conflict and the Federal Reserve’s higher-for-longer interest rates may serve as tailwinds to the downside move.
If that happens, XRP’s price can drop to its next downside target of $0.30. This level limited the Ripple token’s downside prospects between June 2022 and January 2023.
Conversely, a rebound from the ascending trendline support may qualify XRP to retest its descending trendline resistance inside the $0.65-0.70 area.
