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There’s plenty of anticipation building in the ongoing lawsuit between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple, the parent company of cryptocurrency XRP (XRP-USD). However, recent XRP crypto news surrounding the feasibility of Ripple’s defense is what many investors are honing in on right now. XRP’s 3% move higher over the past 24 hours (on a down day in the crypto market nonetheless) signals some bullish near-term momentum.
Essentially, what investors appear to be pricing in is some rather intriguing analysis of Ripple’s “fair notice” defense. Per a recent Supreme Court ruling, Romanian immigrant Alexandru Bittner was charged with failing to file relevant reports for his 272 bank accounts. However, the ultimate penalty for this indiscretion was a single $10,000 fine — a big win, considering he was facing a $2.72 million fine. In this case, the SEC was found to have failed to provide significant clarity with respect to the reporting obligations required by Bittner, resulting in the lower penalty.
How does this relate to XRP? Well, the SEC may be found to have failed to provide fair notice to Ripple that it was required to register its coin offering as a registered securities offering. This potential failure could make the case null and void. Or, at least significantly reduce the penalties sought by the SEC.
Let’s dive into what investors may want to make of this news.
XRP News Drives Renewed Interest
XRP is among the first crypto projects to have seen the wrath of the SEC. As one of the “old guard” in the crypto sector, its value as a low-fee cross-border payments option (via RippleNet) has brought significant attention to the idea that crypto can be used as a viable payment method, particularly for large global transfers.
However, Ripple’s ongoing battle with the SEC has cast a dark shadow over the coin. Like most of its peers, XRP’s value has declined considerably over the past year. Since the lawsuit began in late 2020, XRP’s underperformance has been more severe as well, compared to most of its major peers.
If this lawsuit is concluded in a positive fashion for XRP holders, though, there’s a lot to be gained. The coin could have significant speculative upside among top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Of course, the inverse is also true. Thus, the coin still appears to be a relatively binary bet right now.
Today’s news certainly points to a potentially bright outcome for XRP investors. That said, I remain on the sidelines with this project due to its ongoing legal risks. It’s simply not a bet I want to make.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
