Altcoins
Ripple Extends Losses on Friday, XRP Tumbles Along with Altcoins in Crypto Market Bloodbath
- Bitcoin’s price drop below the $55,000 support has triggered a market-wide correction for major altcoins, including XRP.
- Ripple has erased all of its gains from the past fifteen months and hit $0.40 on Friday morning.
- XRP extended losses by 7%, falling to $0.38 on Friday.
Ripple (XRP) piled up losses alongside major altcoins and Bitcoin early Friday. The German government’s Bitcoin transfers and Mt. Gox’s repayment to creditors have created uncertainty among traders and increased pressure on Bitcoin and altcoins like XRP.
The latest developments in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against Ripple are tipped in favor of the payment remittance company, with Judge Amy Berman Jackson viewing Judge Torres’ 2023 ruling as precedent in the SEC case against Binance.
Daily Digest Market Movers: Ripple Hits Sharp Correction Amid Crypto Bloodbath
- Ripple erased the past 15 months of gains, falling to a new 2024 low of $0.38 on Friday morning.
- At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.39, losing nearly 7% of its value on Friday.
- Developments in the SEC vs. Ripple The lawsuit supports Judge Torres’ ruling that XRP is not a security in secondary market sales.
- Judge Torres’s 2023 ruling, which secured a partial victory for Ripple in its long legal battle with the regulator, was reinforced by Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who used it as a precedent in the SEC’s case against Binance.
- According to Santiment data, Ripple traders began liquidating their investments, recording losses, starting in April 2024.
XRP NPL and Supply on Exchanges
Technical Analysis: XRP Falls to Lowest Level in 15 Months
Ripple has been in a downtrend since March 11. altcoins fell to its lowest level in 15 months, at $0.38, on Friday morning. The altcoin erased early 2024 gains amid a cryptocurrency market correction.
Ripple could find support at the March 21, 2023 low of $0.37 if it extends its losses further. XRP is down 7% on Friday.
XRP/USDT Daily Chart
Conversely, a daily candlestick close above $0.4611 could invalidate the bearish thesis and push XRP towards the next psychologically important resistance at $0.50.
Frequently Asked Questions About SEC Lawsuit Against Ripple
It depends on the transaction, according to a court ruling published July 14: For institutional investors or over-the-counter sales, XRP is a security. For retail investors who purchased the token through programmatic sales on exchanges, on-demand liquidity services, and other platforms, XRP is not a security.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Ripple and its executives of raising more than $1.3 billion through an unregistered asset offering of the XRP token. While the judge ruled that programmatic sales are not securities, the sales of XRP tokens to institutional investors are indeed investment contracts. In the latter case, Ripple violated U.S. securities law and will continue to pursue litigation for the approximately $729 million it received under written contracts.
The ruling offers a partial victory for both Ripple and the SEC, depending on how you look at it. Ripple wins a major victory that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, which could bode well for the broader cryptocurrency industry, as most of the assets targeted by the SEC’s crackdown are operated by decentralized entities that have sold their tokens primarily to retail investors via exchanges, experts say. However, the ruling doesn’t do much to answer the key question of what makes a digital asset a security, so it’s not yet clear whether this case will set a precedent for other pending cases involving dozens of digital assets. Arguments like what’s the right level of decentralization to avoid the “security” label or where to draw the line between institutional and programmatic sales will likely persist.
The SEC has stepped up its enforcement efforts against the blockchain and digital asset industry, filing charges against platforms like Coinbase and Binance for alleged violations of U.S. securities law. The SEC argues that most crypto assets are securities and therefore subject to strict regulation. While defendants may use parts of the Ripple ruling in their favor, the SEC may also find reasons in it to maintain its current strategy of regulating through coercion.
The court’s decision is a partial summary judgment. The ruling can be appealed once a final judgment is issued or if the judge allows it before then. The case is in a pre-trial phase, where both Ripple and the SEC still have the opportunity to reach a settlement.