Increasing US regulatory activity within the crypto space impacted investor sentiment on Monday. The SEC is making bigger moves against crypto firms.
On Monday, XRP slid by 1.88%. After a 1.14% decline on Sunday, XRP ended the session at $0.6042.
There was no court activity in the ongoing SEC v Ripple case on Monday. However, US regulatory scrutiny of the crypto space left XRP in negative territory for the second session.
News of the SEC targeting Binance for fraud charges, despite the Binance and CZ settlements, impacted sentiment toward XRP and the broader market. Binance and CZ settled with the DoJ and the CFTC last week. However, the SEC charges against Binance, CZ, and Binance US remain.
SEC plans to continue targeting Binance US, Binance, and CZ after filing fresh charges against Kraken. Kraken previously paid a $30 million settlement, only to face fresh charges ten months later.
The SEC’s actions raise concerns over the agency’s free rein to retarget crypto firms despite previous settlements.
Significantly, the SEC filed charges against Binance and Coinbase (COIN) in June 2023. While the SEC pursues Binance for a much-needed victory, the SEC and Coinbase will be in court on January 17, 2024. The SEC and Coinbase will present arguments relating to the Coinbase motion to dismiss (MTD).
In August, Coinbase filed an MTD arguing the SEC lacks the statutory authority to regulate US crypto exchanges. If Judge Katherine Failla grants the MTD, the court could end the SEC’s rein of regulation by enforcement.
For Ripple, the fresh charges against Kraken raised the probability of the SEC appealing the Programmatic Sales of XRP ruling. An appeal would bring more uncertainty to the US crypto space without legislation from US lawmakers.
XRP remained above the 50-day and 200-day EMAs, sending bullish price signals.
An XRP return to $0.62 would support a move through the $0.6354 resistance level and bring the $0.65 handle into play.
US lawmaker chatter and SEC activity will remain the focal points for XRP investors.
However, a fall through the trend line and 50-day EMA would give the bears a run at the $0.5835 support level.
The 14-day RSI reading of 47.19 indicates an XRP fall below the 50-day EMA before entering oversold territory.
On the 4-hourly, XRP remained below the 50-day and 200-day EMAs, sending bearish price signals.
An XRP break above the EMAs would support a move to the $0.6354 resistance level.
However, an XRP fall through the trend line would bring the $0.5835 support level into play.
The 4-hourly RSI, with a reading of 40.20, indicates an XRP fall through the trend line before entering oversold territory.
With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Bob has been managing regional teams across Europe and Asia and focusing on analytics across both corporate and financial institutions. Currently he is covering developments relating to the financial markets, including currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes, and global equities.