XRP News: SEC v Ripple Court Motions and BTC-Spot ETFs

Key Insights:

• XRP rallied 3.54% on Friday, ending the session at $0.5318.
• BTC-spot ETF-related news drove buyer demand for cryptos amidst increasing SEC v Ripple case-related activity.
• On Saturday, SEC v crypto and US lawmaker chatter need consideration.

The Friday Overview

On Friday, XRP rallied 3.54%. Reversing a 0.93% loss from Thursday, XRP ended the session at $0.5318. Significantly, XRP ended the day in positive territory for the third time in ten sessions.

SEC v Ripple Case: Markets Await Court Ruling on SEC Motion to Compel

There were no SEC v Ripple case-related updates on Friday. However, investors await a court ruling on the SEC Motion to Compel.

On January 11, the SEC filed a Motion to Compel, asking Judge Analisa Torres to order Ripple to provide,

• Financial statements for 2022/23.
• Post-complaint contracts governing XRP sales to institutional investors.

On January 19, Ripple opposed the Motion to Compel, arguing,

“The SEC never argued that post-complaint conduct was relevant to remedies but instead took the position that post-complaint conduct was entirely irrelevant to the case […]. The SEC should not be permitted to reverse course now.”

On January 23 and 24, the SEC and Ripple filed additional motions supporting their respective positions. Judge Torres granted the Ripple Motion to File a Sur-Reply on Thursday.

The Sur-Reply bolstered Ripple’s opposition to the Motion to Compel, arguing,

“The SEC claims that Ripple does not… argue that it would be burdened in producing post-complaint contracts. […] That is false: Ripple specifically objected to the SEC’s request as overly burdensome.”

The sur-reply letter went on to say,

“The SEC then doubles down on its misstatement, asserting Ripple recently cataloged and presumably produced, in the ongoing class action suit, all of Ripple’s XRP sales contracts from 2020 to June 2023, including determining the identity of counterparties to those contracts. […] That is also false.”

One possible motive behind the Motion to Compel is to establish if Ripple violated Section 5 of the 1933 Securities Law following the July 2023 court ruling regarding XRP sales to institutional investors. A continued breach of Section 5 could result in a more punitive penalty for failing to register XRP as a security in sales to institutional investors.

BTC-Spot ETF Market Updates Fuel Broad-Based Crypto Rally

SEC plans to appeal against the Programmatic Sales ruling are an XRP headwind. In July 2023, Judge Torres ruled that Programmatic Sales of XRP do not satisfy the third prong of the Howey Test.

However, a downward trend in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) outflows drove buyer demand for BTC and the broader crypto market on Friday.

XRP rallied despite waning expectations of an XRP-spot ETF market.

XRP Price Action

Daily Chart

XRP remained below the 50-day and 200-day EMAs, affirming bearish price signals. Significantly, the 50-day EMA closed in on the 200-day EMA, another bearish price signal.

An XRP break above the $0.5470 resistance level would support a move toward the 200-day EMA.

SEC v crypto case-related chatter and US lawmaker scrutiny need consideration.

However, a drop below the $0.52 handle would give the bears a run at the $0.5042 support level.

The 14-day RSI reading, 39.22, suggests an XRP fall to the $0.5042 support level before entering oversold territory.

4-Hourly Chart

On the 4-hourly, XRP hovered above the 50-day EMA while remaining below the 200-day EMA. The EMAs sent bullish near-term but bearish longer-term price signals.

A breakout from the 50-day EMA would support an XRP move to the $0.5470 resistance level.

However, a break below the 50-day EMA would bring the $0.5042 support level into play.

The 4-hourly RSI, with a reading of 60.42, indicates an XRP move to the $0.5470 resistance level before entering overbought territory.