- XRP price yielded 5.3% losses on the day, reversing all gains made by the altcoin since the partial Ripple victory on July 13.
- Weighted sentiment among XRP holders has consistently declined over the weekend, and dropped to the negative zone.
- XRP holders are awaiting an update on SEC’s reply memorandum supporting its interlocutory appeal against Judge Torres’ ruling.
XRP price suffered a steep decline since the July 13 peak of $0.9381. The altcoin has erased all gains since Judge Torres declared Ripple’s partial victory against the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
The weighted sentiment among XRP holders has been in a downward trend since September 8, fueling a bearish narrative for the asset.
Also read: Chainlink price in slump, whales buy the dip with $24 million in LINK tokens
XRP price bleeds, plummets to pre-Ripple partial victory level
XRP price has dropped from $0.9381 on July 13 to $0.4738 early on Monday. While the broader crypto market has experienced a correction post the weekend, XRP ranks among altcoins that suffered the steepest 24-hour price drop.
The asset has wiped out all its gains since Judge Torres’ historic ruling that was considered a partial win for the payment giant Ripple. Since then, there have been several developments in the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple, the most notable being the interlocutory appeal.
The financial regulator submitted a filing to the court for granting its motion to appeal against the ruling in the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit. While Ripple had condemned the SEC’s motion to file an interlocutory appeal, the agency hit back with an argument that there are “knotty legal problems” in the application of the Howey Test.
Based on data from Santiment, the weighted sentiment that represents the traders’ sentiment on XRP as an asset dropped from 1.01 on July 13 to -0.22 at the time of writing. Since the weekend, the sentiment has consistently declined, signaling a shift among market participants holding XRP tokens.
 [15.45.55, 11 Sep, 2023]-638300349068546098.png)
Weighted sentiment in XRP declines between July 13 and September 11
At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.4738 on Binance. It remains to be seen whether developments in the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit catalyze further volatility in XRP price in either direction.
SEC vs Ripple lawsuit FAQs
Is XRP a security?
It depends on the transaction, according to a court ruling released on July 14:
For institutional investors or over-the-counter sales, XRP is a security.
For retail investors who bought the token via programmatic sales on exchanges, on-demand liquidity services and other platforms, XRP is not a security.
How does the ruling affect Ripple in its legal battle against the SEC?
The United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) 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 aren’t considered securities, sales of XRP tokens to institutional investors are indeed investment contracts. In this last case, Ripple did breach the US securities law and will need to keep litigating over the around $729 million it received under written contracts.
What are the implications of the ruling for the overall crypto industry?
The ruling offers a partial win for both Ripple and the SEC, depending on what one looks at.
Ripple gets a big win over the fact that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, and this could bode well for the broader crypto sector as most of the assets eyed by the SEC’s crackdown are handled by decentralized entities that sold their tokens mostly to retail investors via exchange platforms, experts say.
Still, the ruling doesn’t help much to answer the key question of what makes a digital asset a security, so it isn’t clear yet if this lawsuit will set precedent for other open cases that affect dozens of digital assets. Topics such as which is the right degree of decentralization to avoid the “security” label or where to draw the line between institutional and programmatic sales are likely to persist.
Is the SEC stance toward crypto assets likely to change after the ruling?
The SEC has stepped up its enforcement actions toward the blockchain and digital assets industry, filing charges against platforms such as Coinbase or Binance for allegedly violating the US Securities law. The SEC claims that the majority of crypto assets are securities and thus subject to strict regulation.
While defendants can use parts of Ripple’s ruling in their favor, the SEC can also find reasons in it to keep its current strategy of regulation by enforcement.
Can the court ruling be overturned?
The court 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 pretrial phase, in which both Ripple and the SEC still have the chance to settle.
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