lawsuit

May 03 2021

XRP’s Market Cap Hits $75 Billion, 3% of Total Crypto Market Cap

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency has hit a new high, with a market cap of $75 billion. This is around 3.2% of the total market cap for cryptocurrencies.

Ripple’s XRP has risen by over 40% in the past week. The crypto has been doing well in its price recovery by trading above $1.6, with the market cap remaining above $70 billion.

Bitcoin retains its dominance in the market. However, this has fallen to around 48%. Other currencies such as Ethereum have been doing quite well to cover the gap, with ETH’s market dominance standing at 15.7% while that of Binance coin stands at 4.1%.

XRP’s price growth

Since the beginning of the year, XRP has increased by over 500%. In January, the token was trading for $0.23. The price change started towards the end of March and peaked in April when the token reached $1.95, the highest price in three years. The market dominance for the currency has surged since the beginning of April.

The latest growth of other currencies such as ETH, BNB, and XRP has negatively affected the market dominance for Bitcoin. Furthermore, XRP has also been doing well in terms of institutional adoption. In the second week of April, the token recorded around $33 million in institutional use.

Increased interest in XRP

Whale Alert, a blockchain analytics platform, pointed out the large number of transactions taking place on XRP over the weekend. These transactions were reported on the Escrow wallet for Ripple. Data from the wallet show that around $1 billion worth of the crypto was transferred in three days.

In addition, the Whale Report also shows there were around 7 million XRP coins that were transferred from a digital wallet to the Huobi exchange. Before that, 15 million XRP was transferred from a crypto.com exchange to an unknown digital wallet. These two instances show an increased interest in crypto.

XRP is also edging closer to Binance Coin (BNB), with the market cap for BNB is around $90 billion. The total market cap for cryptocurrencies in the market currently reached about $2.2 trillion, which is the most significant record in the market’s history. Bitcoin still holds the largest share of the market cap, standing at approximately $1.08 trillion.

XRP’s progress in the market can be attributed to Ripple’s progress in a lawsuit against the SEC. Winning that lawsuit pushed XRP’s prices to an all-time high price after their prices crashed late last year.

XRP’s Market Cap Hits $75 Billion, 3% of Total Crypto Market Cap

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Apr 13 2021

PrimeXBT Lead Analyst Kim Chua: Lawsuit Upper Hand Sends XRP Price Rising

The price of XRP has rallied sharply recently on the back of positive developments pertaining to the SEC lawsuit with Ripple.

The latest update on the Ripple lawsuit seems to be giving Ripple the upper hand. Thus far, US judges seem to agree with Ripple more than with the SEC. This became especially clear after the March 23 hearing where 2 significant events advantageous to Ripple sent investor confidence in XRP soaring.

First, the judge of the lawsuit, Sarah Netburn, was observed to have suggested that the XRP cryptocurrency is more like a currency than a security.

Secondly, observers also noted that the SEC, in one of its defences, unintentionally implied that exchanges that list and allow the trading of XRP would not violate any regulation. What happened was that on the March 23 hearing, the judge questioned the SEC lawyer that, based on his theory, “everyone who sold XRP – including you and me – are selling illegal securities”, after which the SEC lawyer responded, “no, under Section 4, only Ripple and affiliates of Ripple can have sold XRP illegally”, and that “everyone who sold XRP” was not selling “illegal securities”. The statements by the SEC lawyer can be interpreted that exchanges will not be held liable for the sale of XRP. Under Section 4 of the Securities Act, only Ripple and its affiliates could be accused of illegal sales. This was a case-turner for the price of XRP since it would mean that exchanges may start relisting it again.

Positive price action began building momentum during this time, where social media attention on XRP soared. The number of XRP-related posts on different social media networks skyrocketed, with over 80% of all the social interactions bullish about XRP, out of which a campaign called “RelistXRP” was initiated and trending on Twitter in the USA.

This positive social engagement has led many large investors to add more XRP to their portfolios. According to on-chain data, large whales with more than 10 million XRP tokens have started increasing by significantly since March 24, just 1 day after news broke.

A crypto exchange named Lykke, based out of Switzerland, has thus decided to re-list XRP. Subsequently, a rumour emerged on April 3 that Coinbase was going to relist XRP. The rumour mill began to churn when a Twitter user going by the name Krish xrp hinted that Coinbase could be readying to relist XRP. Krish xrp noted that backend work was already underway at Coinbase, while attaching a screenshot of Coinbase back-office API with XRP coding on it.

While there has not been any confirmation from Coinbase yet, this rumour sparked an explosion in XRP price, with it surging from pre-rumour level of around $0.60, to a high of $1.12, its highest level in 3 years, within the first 48 hours.

On top of this, on the discovery hearing on April 6, Ripple received another shot in the arm when the court approved Ripple’s request to gain access to SEC Documents on BTC and ETH, something that will be very helpful to Ripple for fighting its case.

Already, someone found something advantageous for Ripple and posted it on Twitter.

These developments caused investors to FOMO back into XRP, creating a mad rush to buy as many investors have already sold XRP when news of the lawsuit broke in December last year. Now that Ripple seems to have the upper hand, investors are back in droves hoping to purchase XRP before the ruling.

On the technical front, this rush to buy caused the price of XRP to over-extend and a undergo a healthy retracement between $0.90 and $1.00, which is a crucial support area for XRP to build a new base in order to support a move higher. The price of XRP also formed a “Golden Cross” mid-March, a sign that the price of XRP is going on a strong uptrend. Price subsequently broke out of a cup-and -handle bullish formation on the weekly chart, with the upthrust being confirmed by a triangle breakout on the daily chart with a price target of $1.50. With the initial price objective being already hit, price may consolidate a little since it has tripled in a week, however, the chart is still looking bullish for XRP and there is the possibly that price may swing up parabolically to test its ATH of $3.30. Where it goes after that however, may depend on the outcome of the lawsuit as well as sentiment in the broad crypto markets .

Meanwhile, there is additional information favouring XRP that seems to be overlooked by the market. On March 29, the court granted a group of XRP holders the right to file a motion to intervene in the case against Ripple by April 19. The holders blame the SEC for inflicting monetary losses on them when the XRP price plunged in December. As April 19 draws near, we could be in for exciting times when XRP investors gather to trounce the SEC, which will inevitably cause volatility in XRP’s price to rise again.

Another interesting event that is developing is a petition to drop the SEC lawsuit. Crypto & Policy founder, Thomas Hodge, has started a Change.org petition directed at the SEC chairman nominee, Gary Gensler, asking him to end the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple once he’s confirmed as chairman of the commission. The petition alleges that former SEC chairman, Jay Clayton, and his SEC Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman, for “favouring” BTC and ETH while harming XRP. While the petition may not necessarily raise the price, it definitely will be able to generate more awareness and hype in the XRP token.

With the rise in price, XRP has moved up to number 4 on the crypto top 10, just behind BNB. Progress in the lawsuit may further send XRP roaring back to the number 3 spot which it used to occupy, wiping the past few months away as just a small hiccup in the bigger scheme of things.

About Kim Chua, PrimeXBT Market Analyst:

Kim Chua is an institutional trading specialist with a track record of success that extends across leading banks including Deutsche Bank, China Merchants Bank, and more. Chua later launched a hedge fund that consistently achieved triple-digit returns for seven years. Chua is also an educator at heart who developed her own proprietary trading curriculum to pass her knowledge down to a new generation of analysts. Kim Chua actively follows both traditional and cryptocurrency markets closely and is eager to find future investment and trading opportunities as the two vastly different asset classes begin to converge.

PrimeXBT Lead Analyst Kim Chua: Lawsuit Upper Hand Sends XRP Price Rising

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Apr 07 2021

Ripple Vs SEC: Discussions Opened For Defining Crypto As Securities

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs have had a very long, very interesting relationship. Recently, however, Ripple Labs has been granted access to the documents of the SEC that express the interpretations and views of the SEC when it comes to crypto assets.

Playing The Technical Game

Law360 showed that one Sarah Netburn, a US Magistrate Judge, had granted Ripple Labs the motion “in large part.” The Judge had concluded that the memos and minutes of the SEC regarding cryptocurrencies are likely discoverable but asserted that staff-to-staff email communications are not to be produced. Another detail Netburn allowed is for either RIpple or the SEC to raise disputes with the ruling if they wished.

It was back in December of last year when the SEC filed its lawsuit against Ripple. In this lawsuit, the regulator accused Ripple Labs, including Christian Larson, the Chairman, and Brand Garlinghouse, the CEO, of raising a total of $1.38 billion by way of an unlicensed security offering, which they did all the way back in 2013.

A Crack Legal Team Is Severely Versatile

Not to give the jig up just yet, Ripple promptly challenged the SEC’s lawsuit, claiming that an asset expressly used for online settlements is more akin to Ether or Bitcoin. Both of these assets have been declared commodities by the SEC. Another important factor Ripple hammers home about is the 8-year time gap the agency took in terms of filing a complaint against RIpple as a whole.

Matthew Solomon stands as the Counsel of Garlinghouse, with Law360 reporting that Matthew Solomon is convinced that the SEC’s lawsuit could be “game over” should they manage to find any evidence that the regulator had compared XRP to ETH or BTC. Through this technicality, XRP would be classified as a commodity instead of security, and thus be outside of the jurisdiction of the SEC.

The Legal System Is Always Complex

Another point lawyers are hammering home on, is the fact that the SEC has taken a whole of 8 years to file the complaint. As such, the law firm is doing its best to undermine the claims of the regulator should they find any documentation that is counterintuitive to the official classification of XRP by the SEC.

Solomon declared that this sort of discovery is needed in order to defend the client in question

Time will tell how successful this antic will be. Many in the crypto space already see RXRP as a security and are simply waiting for them to be caught out for it

Ripple Vs SEC: Discussions Opened For Defining Crypto As Securities

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Mar 12 2021

CZ responds to reports of Binance investigation: story has no “teeth”

Shortly after a Bloomberg report on Friday that cryptocurrency exchange Binance was under investigation for permitting US residents to place unlawful trades, Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (better known as CZ) dismissed the reports during a live AMA on Clubhouse, saying that the report had “no teeth.”

“This is a topic that just came up, literally like a few minutes ago or a hour ago,” said CZ. “So number one, the news article said there was no, I don’t have it in front of me, there was no “misconduct,” I have to dig it up. So number one there was no report of misconduct from Binance, so the report kind of defeated itself.”

CZ noted that as a business Binance maintains a “no comment” policy on communications with regulators, which places the company in a difficult position with regards to rebutting the contents of the report, which cited a single anonymous source.

An investigation does not mean that “they’re trying to charge us, trying to do something with us,” and that the report could simply be a routine communication, he said.

Without citing examples, CZ said that similar instances of what he characterized as miscommunications have happened in the past, and that the “story doesn’t have any teeth.”

He also notably alleged that “self-perceived competitors” might bribe or pressure journalists to publish stories heavy on allegations and short on content.

CZ has had a complex relationship with the media over this last year. Earlier this month, Binance quietly dropped a defamation lawsuit against Forbes and two of its journalists.

“We maintain a very collaborative posture with all agencies around the world, not just the US. We have an active dialogue with regulatory agencies,” he added.

Cracks in the geofence

The reports that the CFTC is investigating whether or not US users placed illegal trades on the exchange perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that as recently as November last year he admitted that US traders find “intelligent” ways to circumvent the ban.

This morning, however, CZ vigorously defended Binance’s KYC/AML policies.

“I can comment publicly that Binance probably has the strongest KYC/AML program in the industry,” he said. “[…] We do very careful, very strict KYC/AML. We also use very intelligent geofencing.”

He added that the company often accidentally “mislabels” travelers to the US, claiming that the standards are often “too strict.”

However, he also admitted once more that US users often try to circumvent the systems in place, and noted that the quality of their barriers have to “improve.”

Ultimately he struck a hopeful tone that industry players and regulatory agencies can find common ground.

“Right now there’s kind of a gap between the industry players and the regulators. I want to see, hopefully, both sides extend their hand and bridge that gap.”

CZ responds to reports of Binance investigation: story has no \”teeth\”

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Mar 10 2021

P2P Payments: Binance Adds CashU and MoneyGram For Arab Customers

Binance has announced that it would be adding two more payment options for its clients in Arab countries in a press release.

Binance Rolls Out Two More Payments Options For Arab World

Per the release, CashU and a former Ripple partner MoneyGram, would be added as payment options for clients looking to trade crypto-assets on its platform.

According to the crypto trading platform, these payment options will be available on its Binance peer-to-peer page (Binance P2P) and will solely cater to Arab-speaking traders.

Recall that MoneyGram distanced itself from blockchain company Ripple Labs after the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a class-action lawsuit against the company in late December 2020.

MoneyGram Gets The Boot From Investors

MoneyGram had announced in its quarterly outlook that it would no longer be planning for any benefits from Ripple market development fees in the first quarter of 2021. According to the global money transfer service, it was suspending its agreement with the blockchain payments company because of the uncertainty surrounding Ripple’s litigation by the SEC.

The companies had joined forces in 2018, with Ripple Labs coming on board to help MoneyGram with its foreign settlements platform. Ripple’s on-demand liquidity (ODL) product was used extensively by MoneyGram, and the blockchain company added incentives in the deal in what is called a market development fee.

To further cement the partnership, Ripple signed a multi-year deal with MoneyGram and acquired an estimated $50 million worth of MoneyGram’s stock in 2019 in exchange for a 10% stake in the company. When the SEC lawsuit went public, Ripple had cashed in on $15 million of its shares in MoneyGram.

Ripple said it would end the current partnership agreement with a fellow US company and may likely revisit the deal when the regulatory climate was clearer.

Following the MoneyGram/Ripple marriage’s official dissolution, MoneyGram was hit by a class-action lawsuit by law firm Rosen on behalf of its investors who bought MoneyGram’s stock between June 2019 and Feb. 2021. According to the plaintiff, MoneyGram had allegedly issued false statements regarding its partnership with Ripple Labs and its XRP cryptocurrency.

The complaint’s legal custodian said that MoneyGram had failed to disclose that XRP was viewed as unregulated, unlawful security by the SEC.

To add more to MoneyGram’s miseries, its MGI stock price slumped 7% on open day trading. At press time, it trades at $6.90, following a 0.31% increase.

P2P Payments: Binance Adds CashU and MoneyGram For Arab Customers

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