XRP Competes for No. 5 Position in Rankings on Hinman Tailwinds

Highlights

• The highly anticipated Hinman documents have been released to the public, all but sealing Ripple’s legal victory in the SEC case.
• The XRP price briefly overtook USD Coin as the No. 5 crypto based on market cap.
• Investors are eyeing the $0.60 level in the next move up.

A flippening occurred in the cryptocurrency market, if only briefly. XRP overtook stablecoin USD Coin as the No. 5 cryptocurrency, capturing a market cap of over $28 billion on CoinMarketCap. The two assets continue to compete for the coveted No. 5 spot as the markets trade with volatility. 

The XRP price has soared 7% in the past week to approximately $0.54 as investors predict victory for Ripple in the SEC legal battle. The latest catalyst that is expected to seal the SEC’s fate is a piece of evidence known as the Hinman documents that date back to five years ago and have been released to the public.

Hinman Catalyst

Highly anticipated emails from former SEC official Bill Hinman on cryptocurrencies and securities are now available. In his communications from 2018, Hinman focuses on the leading cryptocurrencies, saying, “We do not need to see a need to regulate ether, as it is currently offered, as a security.” 

Now Ripple’s defense team is using the SEC’s own words against it to clear the company’s name. The crypto community has rallied behind them in what’s largely expected to be a victory for the blockchain company.

The SEC’s complaint against Ripple, lodged in 2020, is that it sold XRP as an unregistered security.  Hinman’s comments weaken that argument. It’s been business as usual for Ripple in the meantime but the XRP price has been rising and falling on the prolonged legal battle.

The markets largely agree with the blockchain company and have driven up the XRP price in anticipation of a victory lap in the courts.

Ripple Chief Weighs In

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in a tweet admonished the SEC for proceeding with the lawsuit against the company despite the Hinman revelation, saying that the agency threw “an entire industry into chaos.” Garlinghouse goes on to call SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s attack on him and his team “deplorable, politically-motivated overreach.”

It’s absolutely unconscionable that a regulator – when presented with so much pushback on what he was about to say / how he compiled this fake “test” in the first place – decided to move forward anyway, and throw an entire industry into chaos. https://t.co/9qzKOiPWsA

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 13, 2023

Garlinghouse continued,

“Seeing the depth to which the SEC has essentially weaponized the lack of regulatory clarity through enforcement actions since this speech was given – it’s no surprise that we can call bluff on their claims to “just come in and register” as nothing but in bad faith.”

The XRP army cheered the Ripple chief for swinging back, offering their continued support to him and the company in the fight. Meanwhile, XRP bulls are eyeing the $0.60 level in the potential next run up.