Ripple Labs Wins as SEC Drops XRP Appeal, Opening the Door to New Crypto Regulatory Landscape

The Ripple Case has reached the defining moment of it all as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is officially withdrawing its appeal against Ripple Labs.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has withdrawn its appeal against Ripple Labs in the landmark case over whether XRP is a security, paving the way for a potential settlement of the case.

The SEC launched its case against Ripple in December 2020, accusing the company of selling $1 billion worth of unregistered XRP tokens. A judge ruled in July that XRP can be a security in certain instances.

After the parties mutually discontinued their respective appeals, and as anticipated, the SEC will no longer be pursuing its appeal of the December 2020 ruling in the case.

The regulator had planned to appeal a lower court's ruling that XRP is not necessarily a security in most cases but can be a security in certain instances.

The SEC is also withdrawing its appeal of a ruling that dismissed its claims against former executives, in which the court found that the statute of limitations had expired.

The SEC will pay a portion of the originally imposed $125 million penalty of $50 million, while the rest of the $75 million will be refunded to the firm.

The company has foregone nearly $150 million in legal fees to fight the case that Garlinghouse believes has brought much-needed regulatory clarity to the industry.

The outcome of this historic case is viewed to have far-reaching implications on cryptocurrency regulation and classification, possibly reverberating onto other ongoing controversies in the crypto world.

XRP price eyes breakout ahead of Ripple case verdict

The price action of XRP is heading into consolidation between the levels as it attempts to make a bullish movement. The price is seen bouncing up from the marked support zone around $1.92 and is testing the resistance near $2.04, a key hurdle that bulls must reclaim to gain momentum in the upward direction. MACD signals are giving this set of alternations between the golden cross and the death cross.

A recent golden cross formed by the MACD moments ago, around 16:25 UTC, signals bullish momentum might form but the market failed to break higher.

Death crosses earlier in the session were a strong indication of the bearishness in the market, especially at 21:20 UTC. The RSI further strengthens this view as the asset was being pushed multiple times into oversold zones before recovering again from those dips.

The XRP price remains range-bound, although April 16, the day Ripple is filing its appellate brief in the ongoing Ripple Case, could present a major catalyst.

In the case of a bullish breakout above $2.05, XRP could target $2.10; otherwise, a rejection could lead it back to the $1.90 support zone.