Since failing to clear $25,200 resistance, Bitcoin (BTC) is facing a prolonged decline. Meanwhile, Ripple’s XRP is enjoying a fourth day in the green, printing nearly 9% over that period. How to explain this counter-current rise
XRP goes against the grain of the market
The price of Ripple (XRP) is on its fourth day in the green and is up 8.47% over this period. A performance that denotes, in a context of market rather morose in recent days.
Ripple (XRP) performance in 4 days
In fact, Bitcoin (BTC) is down 5% over the same period. Moreover, the queen of cryptocurrencies is down 15% since February 21, when the price failed to reach the symbolic resistance of $25,200.
As Vincent Ganne mentioned in TCN’s columns, the fundamental pressure is at its peak with the Silvergate affair, while the global macroeconomic context is becoming more and more tarnished as central bankers speak.
So what explains this contrarian rise in Ripple’s XRP share
?
A rise in anticipation of a Ripple victory against the SEC?
There are strong reasons to believe that this rise in the XRP reflects investors’ hopes for a potential victory for Ripple in its long-running legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As a reminder, the American financial regulator accuses Ripple of having made an illegal sale of financial securities when it sold its XRP. This is an accusation that is coming up more and more and that affects other important digital assets.
Except that this trial took a new turn on 6 March. While the SEC and Ripple had recently asked the court to withdraw expert testimony, Judge Analisa Torres agreed to exclude the testimony of the SEC’s number one witness, Patrick Doody, who was supposed to report the true profit intentions of XRP investors.
This news was welcomed by XRP’s defenders, which could explain the rise in the asset’s price despite the context. On the other hand, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple himself expressed his contentment: “It’s only Tuesday, but it’s shaping up to be a complicated week for the SEC”.
It’s only Tuesday, but shaping up to be a not-so-great week for the SEC (this ruling, Voyager, Grayscale) https://t.co/Cyoi41uNI8
– Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 8, 2023
In recent weeks, the SEC has tightened its policy towards companies in the cryptocurrency industry. First Paxos, the issuer of the Binance BUSD, then Coinbase and finally Kraken, all of these platforms have come under attack from the US financial regulator.
