June 3, 2023
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XRP

SEC scores a minor victory in legal dispute with Ripple Labs

SEC scores a minor victory in legal dispute with Ripple Labs

CoinRegWatch05 mins

“The filing of the Individual Defendants’ Answer is the triggering event. When the Answer is filed, even if before April 8th, the date the Answer is filed starts the two week clock running for the filing of the SEC position on discovery” said lawyer James K. Filan.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) has been granted an extension to submit a discovery schedule relating to individual defendants Brad Garlinghouse (CEO) and Chris Larsen (co-founder) as part of the case against Ripple Labs.

The bitter legal dispute has been going since late December 2020, after the SEC alleged that Ripple Labs generated $1.3 billion from an unregistered security offering via its XRP token. The firm denies that XRP is a security and is instead a method for international payments, and has argued that the SEC failed to give Ripple fair notice that its token was a security.

While the ruling in favor of the SEC in this instance marks a small win, some onlookers have suggested that the enforcement body is dragging its heels and slowing the case down to frustrate Ripple Labs.

The latest development was highlighted by defense lawyer and former U.S. federal prosecutor James K. Filan, who cited a text only order from the Court earlier today.

“The SEC shall inform the Court of its position on whether any additional discovery is required within a week of the filing of the Individual Defendants,” the order read.

As part of the delayed schedule, the defendants now have until April 8 to submit an answer to the SEC’s complaints, while the SEC’s decision on additional discovery is due the following week on April 15, and joint proposed scheduling order is also due on April 22.

However the dates are not set in stone, and could change depending on how fast Ripple Labs moves, with Filan noting that:

“The filing of the Individual Defendants’ Answer is the triggering event. When the Answer is filed, even if before April 8th, the date the Answer is filed starts the two week clock running for the filing of the SEC position on discovery and the Joint Proposed Scheduling Order.”

Relating: Crypto industry seeks to educate, influence US lawmakers as it faces increasing regulation

The XRP community reaction to the post was mixed, with some expressing anger at the SEC as “just trying to gain time in a case already lost,” while others such as Twitter user “r ColeTheMailman” suggesting that the delays could be good for XRP in the long run.

“This is a good thing, SEC will have no excuse as to timelines and more delays after a schedule has been confirmed. Also they will not be able to say they were rushed when and if it comes down to summary judgment,” he said.

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Coinbase Sued for Allegedly Selling 79 Unregistered Crypto Securities — Including XRP, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu

CoinRegWatch05 mins
Coinbase Sued for Allegedly Selling 79 Unregistered Crypto Securities — Including XRP, Dogecoin, Shiba InuA class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase alleging that the platform lets customers trade 79 cryptocurrencies that are unregistered securities, including XRP, dogecoin (DOGE), and shiba inu (SHIB). Lawsuit Claims Coinbase Sold 79 Unregistered Crypto Securities to Customers A class-action lawsuit was filed last week against Coinbase Global Inc., Coinbase […]
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Ripple to give out 1 billion XRP in developer grants

Ripple to give out 1 billion XRP in developer grants

CoinRegWatch04 mins

The first two waves of the XRPL grant have offered $6 million in funding to 50 open source projects built on the XRP ledger.

Ripple, the enterprise payment technology company, plans to give out one billion XRP in grants for developers. The newly announced grant is an extension of the company’s XRPL Grants program launched in 2021.

The developer grant would be focused on encouraging open-source projects on the XRP ledger, built for enterprise remittance assistance. Ripple has built a strong foothold in the Asia Pacific region through its XRPL based remittance technology called RippleNet

Ripplenet offers a real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange, and remittance network with the help of the XRP ledger. The remittance platform has partnered with hundreds of banks to build a payment network of its own.

The total value of the grant is about $794 million according to the current XRP price, out of which the firm has awarded a total of $6 million in funding to over 50 projects to date. The firm would offer financial, technical, and business assistance to developers looking to build on XRPL.

Related: Motions denied for both SEC and Ripple as battle continues

Ripple’s new developer grant would be released over the course of the next decade. The firm would conduct a number of boot camps to encourage and onboard developers. The first two waves of the XRPL grant were focused on the nonfungible token and federated sidechains, while the third-wave aims to onboard open source projects on its ledger.

Despite its ongoing security lawsuit in the United States, Ripple has managed to expand on its cross-border payment technology outside the U.S.

Ripple’s remittance technology has become quite popular in the past few years, owing to its advantage in terms of low cost and instant transactions, over the traditional payment gateways. According to a recent report, Ripple partner The Clearing House is in talks with Wells Fargo to develop a SWIFT alternative.

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Motions denied for both SEC and Ripple as battle continues

Motions denied for both SEC and Ripple as battle continues

CoinRegWatch14 mins

Ripple CEO Garlington claims a “big win” in the dismissal of an SEC motion while remaining silent about the ruling on his own motion.

Southern New York District Court Judge Analisa Torres issued two rulings Friday on motions filed in the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple Labs.

Ripple argued that it was not given fair notice by the agency that it would consider the token a security, thus denying the company due process. Judge Torres denied the SEC motion, filed in April, to dismiss this defense, and by doing so affirmed that the defense is viable in the suit — in other words, that the defense, if accepted, could be used to win the case.

The judge also denied a motion filed by Ripple CEO Brad Garlington and executive chairman Chris Larsen in April to dismiss the case against them for aiding and abetting the alleged unregistered securities sales. By filing the motion, the defendants claimed that, even if the allegations in the suit were true, they would not comprise a winnable case.

While Garlington hailed the rejection of the SEC motion as a “huge win” on Saturday, the case is still in the pleadings stage, so there are likely to be many more legal maneuvers to come. Since the decisions Friday, Ripple has moved to strike a supplemental report rebutting an expert report on the market performance of XRP.

The suit alleged Ripple sold its XRP token as an investment product without SEC registration from 2013 to December 2020, when the agency filed suit. Ripple has argued that XRP is “a digital asset for real-time global payments,” and not subject to SEC jurisdiction

Related: SEC v. Ripple: Here’s how two 2012 memos can turn the tide in the milestone crypto case

The case is noteworthy because it is, so far, a rare instance of a case brought by the SEC that goes to trial, rather than being settled out of court. The outcome of the case, if no settlement is reached, could set a precedent that would affect cases against crypto companies for the foreseeable future, and could  encourage more companies to challenge the regulator in court.

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3 reasons why XRP price could drop 25%-30% in March

3 reasons why XRP price could drop 25%-30% in March

CoinRegWatch06 mins

A combination of technical, fundamental, and social sentiment indicators spell downside risks for XRP after its price rises over 8% week-to-date.

XRP price risks dropping by more than 25% in the coming weeks due to a multi-month bearish setup and fears surrounding excessive XRP supply.

XRP descending triangle

XRP has been consolidating inside a descending triangle pattern since topping out at its second-highest level to date — near $1.98 — in April 2021.

In doing so, the XRP/USD pair has left behind a sequence of lower highs on its upper trendline while finding a solid support level around $0.55, as shown in the chart below.

XRP/USD weekly candle price chart. Source: TradingView

In the week ending March 13, XRP’s price again tested the triangle’s upper trendline as resistance, raising alarms that the coin could undergo another pullback move to the pattern’s support trendline near $0.55, amounting to a drop between 25% and 30%.

The downside outlook also takes cues from other bearish catalysts that has emerged around the triangle resistance. 

For instance, XRP formed a bearish hammer on March 12, a single candlestick pattern with a small body and a long upside wick, suggesting lower buying pressure near the coin’s week-to-date top of around $0.85.

XRP/USD daily price chart featuring bearish hammer. Source: TradingView

Additionally, the price turned lower after testing a confluence of resistances defined by its 20-week exponential moving average (20-week EMA; the green wave) and its 50-week EMA (the red wave), as shown in the attached image below.

XRP/USD weekly candle price chart with moving average resistances. Source: TradingView

Excessive supply FUD

More downside cues for XRP come after Ripple Labs locked 800 million XRP in escrow as a part of its programmed schedule for withdrawals.

The blockchain payment company moved around 100 million XRP worth nearly $40 million to exchange wallets on March 3. Meanwhile, it kept the other 700 million XRP (worth around $550 million) in an escrow account, raising anticipations that at least 200 million XRP would be flooded into the market to generate funds for Ripple’s operational expenses, as well as to distribute XRP among Ripple’s global clientele.

Meanwhile, it kept the other 700 million XRP (worth around $550 million) in an escrow account, raising anticipations that at least 200 million XRP would enter the market to generate funds for Ripple’s operational expenses, as well as to distribute XRP among Ripple’s global clientele.

The selloff fears originated from the XRP price’s earlier response to unexpected supply hikes. For instance, XRP/USD fell by more than 50% to near $0.60 four months after its net supply in circulation increased from 40.46 billion to over 47 billion in just two days.

XRP circulating supply. Source: Messari

Nonetheless, Ripple’s withdrawal of 800 million XRP has not yet been reflected in its net circulating supply.

Profit-taking risks mount

Another catalyst that hints XRP’s price could fall 25-30% to reach its descending triangle target is a Santiment indicator that tracks social media trends and their impact on market trends.

XRP price versus $XRPNetwork trend. Source: Santiment

XRP’s price rose by over 15% week-to-date on March 12, notes Santiment, alongside a large spike in social media searches for the hashtag #XRPNetwork, suggesting that it could follow up with a potential selloff ahead. Excerpts:

“Historically, our social trends indicate that profit-taking is justified whenever the crowd makes the #XRPNetwork a top topic.”

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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Solana price eyes $150 as SOL's 25% jump this week puts 'double-bottom' in play

Solana price eyes $150 as SOL’s 25% jump this week puts ‘double-bottom’ in play

CoinRegWatch05 mins

The upside setup for SOL price appears despite Solana-based investment products seeing significant capital outflows.

The price of Solana (SOL) may rise by over 45% in the coming weeks as the cryptocurrency intends to complete a double-bottom chart pattern against the U.S. dollar.

A $150 SOL ahead?

Double-bottoms typically appear at the end of a downtrend when the price falls to a low, rebounds, and returns to the level near the previous low. With bears unable to push the price to a newer low, the selling sentiment exhausts, leading to a sharp upside retracement and a breakout move afterward.

SOL has been somewhat painting a similar pattern since Jan. 24, especially after extending its rebound move by rising 25% week-to-date (WTD) to reach above $100.

Additionally, a visible bullish divergence between the Solana token’s price and relative strength index (RSI) trends indicates a high probability of a double-bottom breakout. 

SOL/USD daily price chart featuring double bottom and bullish divergence setups. Source: TradingView

Nonetheless, a bullish confirmation might come if SOL’s price breaks above the double-bottom neckline near $120 with a rise in trading volume. As it happens, the Solana token’s upside target could be at length equal to the maximum distance between the double-bottom pattern’s lowest point and its neckline.

That would put SOL en route to at least $150, with a possibility of continuing the bullish move toward $170, marked in red in the chart above.

Bull trap risks

As double-bottom envisioned SOL at $150 or above, popular market analyst “Capo” warned about a potential bull trap in the Solana market, noting that altcoins, on the whole, would resume their downtrends.

The pseudonymous analyst presented $120, the double-bottom neckline, as a solid resistance level that would most likely limit SOL’s ongoing upside retracement. He also applied the popular Elliott Wave Theory to hint about the beginning of Solana’s next bearish wave cycle, as tagged with “c” in the chart below.

SOL/USD daily price chart. Source: Capo, TradingView

“It’s impossible to me to be bullish here, after the break of all the bullish MS + correctives moves to the upside,” Capo said on March 1, adding:

“You can enjoy the LTF pumps while they last, but don’t get too comfy.”

The bearish outlook lined up with a CoinShares report published last week showed most altcoin-based investment vehicles witnessing negative investor sentiment, including Binance Coin (BNB), Polkadot (DOT), Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), and Litecoin (LTC).

Flow by asset in the week ending Feb. 25. Source: Bloomberg, CoinShares

Related: Crypto investment funds attract $36M in capital despite market turmoil

Solana also suffered as the week ending Feb. 25 saw SOL investment products losing $2.6 million in capital outflows.

In contrast, all the digital asset investment products combined attracted $36 million in the same period, with multi-asset portfolios injecting the highest capital — of $14 million, followed by Bitcoin’s 17.3 million.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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