XRP price increased on December 6 and touched the level of 0.65 dollars, the highest level in three weeks, with an increase of approximately 4.5% in two days. With this momentum, XRP showed a remarkable performance compared to many altcoins despite the declines in the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours. So, what can we expect for XRP in the near future? Let’s explore together.
Why is XRP Rising?
XRP has experienced a price increase, and Ripple is in the middle of a potential settlement process against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Accordingly, the SEC may take a serious discount route in the expected fine to be given to Ripple Labs.
Especially during the process between the SEC and Ripple, the discovery process regarding the solutions related to the $770 million worth of XRP sales made to institutional investors by Ripple is still ongoing. Referring to the Morrison vs. National Australia Bank case, Ripple expects to reduce the potential settlement costs with the SEC by more than 50%.
Using the Morrison vs. NAB case as a precedent, Ripple may also claim that the SEC’s jurisdiction does not cover XRP sales to non-U.S. investors. This is an important development for the case because a significant portion of Ripple’s XRP sales were made to institutional investors outside the U.S.
If Ripple can successfully demonstrate that these sales are outside the SEC’s jurisdiction, it is expected that the SEC will significantly reduce the scope of the case and potentially the size of any penalty or settlement. With this expectation, market analysts have seen an increase in the price of XRP.
Whales Continue to Accumulate XRP
The recent gains in XRP coincide with a strong accumulation period among the richest investors. Accordingly, the supply of XRP held by addresses with balances of more than 1 million tokens has increased by 20 million so far in December.
The approximately 8.5% increase in the price of XRP during the same period indicates that whales are positioning themselves for further increases in the future. In particular, the increase in supply among the top 100 XRP investors shows that they are accumulating XRP at local high levels.
In addition to all this, the price increase in XRP can also be seen as part of a broader altcoin market recovery compared to Bitcoin. XRP’s market dominance increased by about 5% in the last 24 hours compared to a 0.82% decrease in Bitcoin dominance. Moreover, many investors may have redirected their funds from Bitcoin to short-term altcoins such as XRP with upward potential.
