Ripple (XRP) Market Cap Briefly Surges 12% as SEC Drops Case, But the Momentum Quickly Fades

Ripple's high-profile legal battle with the SEC has seemingly reached its final chapter, with CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealing on March 19 that the agency is dropping the case.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its case against Ripple, bringing a high-profile legal battle to an end, according to an interview with CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

The development was initially met with a rally in XRP’s market capitalization, which briefly surged from $132.66 billion to $148.63 billion, marking a 12% jump.

However, the momentum proved unsustainable, and by the end of March, XRP’s valuation had plummeted to $122.53 billion—erasing $26.1 billion in just under two weeks.

Shifting Market Sentiment

XRP’s struggles are becoming more pronounced, with the asset now trading at $2.10—down 2.32% on the day and 14.6% over the past week. Despite a strong start to the year, these losses have brought it back to levels last seen in late 2024, effectively wiping out its year-to-date gains.

The pullback isn’t entirely surprising. XRP was among the best-performing assets earlier this year, outpacing much of the market. However, as selling pressure mounts, its ability to sustain gains is being tested.

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Whale Activity and Supply Concerns

While some traders remain optimistic—data from Coinalyze shows only 29.38% of positions over the past 24 hours were shorts—major investors are taking a different stance. Blockchain analyst Ali Martinez observed that wallets holding over 100 million XRP dumped around 1.12 billion tokens between March 28 and March 31, signaling a bearish outlook among large holders.

Adding to the concerns, Ripple is set to release another 1 billion XRP from escrow on April 1. While not all tokens will necessarily enter circulation, Ripple has already offloaded over 900 million XRP this year. If the trend continues into April, it could intensify downward pressure on the asset.