Ripple has been locked in a bitter court battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding whether XRP should be classified as a security or not.
Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, recently tweeted about him being optimistic but cautious of what 2023 brings in terms of regulations.
Because of this, XRP has been trading sideways, a movement not altered since FTX’s collapse. Adding to the downward pressure is the significant whale activity on the market. According to Whale Alert, whales have been moving hundreds of millions worth of XRP to the open market with the biggest transfer worth $92 million.
However, the market seems bullish despite recent bearish developments as XRP, as of writing, went up by 2% in the past 24 hours. XRP is currently trading at $0.3435, down 0.5% in the last seven days, data by Coingecko shows.
Today is the first day of the 118th Congress. While prior efforts at regulatory clarity for crypto in the US have stalled, I am cautiously optimistic that 2023 is the year we will (finally!) see a breakthrough. A thread on why…
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) January 3, 2023
What XRP’s Case Mean For Crypto And Its Price
The day the SEC filed the complaint, December 21, 2020, XRP fell by 67.13% on the charts. However, December 5 proved to be a day XRP holders should rejoice. According to a report, the SEC failed to satisfy the three elements of the Howey Test which determines whether the asset is a security or not.
This is a big win not just for Ripple but for the entire crypto industry as this would legitimize crypto’s place in the financial space. With the company and community hopeful for a win, Ripple released to escrow over 55% of XRP’s total supply out of which is a billion XRP.
Although the market is very hopeful for a win, Garlinghouse’s statement shows a very mixed sentiment about what 2023 will bring for the company and for the world of crypto.
But he is very clear on what could – or better yet, should – happen this year; break the status quo in the current U.S. legislation about what crypto should and shouldn’t be or America will lose its innovation leader status.
XRP total market cap at $17.3 billion on the daily chart | Chart: TradingView.com
Investors Should Watch Out For This…
Currently, the sideways market movement could be broken in the next few weeks. As of writing, investors and traders of the token are pushing the price up to test the $0.3680 price resistance range.
With low correlation with Bitcoin and Ethereum, it might only be slightly dampened by bad macroeconomics as recession fears grow.
Crypto market FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), however, might become a problem. As of now, two events are sending negative signals to investors of crypto. First is Huobi’s decision to lay-off 20% of its workers, and the second is the Genesis-DCG fiasco.
Any negative developments here might affect XRP’s ability to test its current resistance range. As the situation develops, investors and traders should capitalize on the token’s current bullish momentum.
-Featured Image: The Daily Hodl