Cryptocurrency sector’s controversial topic for the past three years, Ripple, continues to spark debates. Firstly, allegations regarding the company’s XRP sales to institutional clients raise fines for violating securities laws. Secondly, the issue of unjust gains from various discounts offered to Ripple’s institutional clients comes to the forefront.
SEC’s Stance Evaluated
Crypto-friendly lawyers James Murphy and Bill Morgan evaluate the SEC’s stance on gains from discounts provided to Ripple’s institutional clients. The regulatory body labels these gains as “unjust enrichment” and demands their repayment in the latest lawsuit filing.
The SEC’s proposal requested the court to order Ripple Labs to pay $198 million in prejudgment interest, $876 million in fines, and $876 million in unjust gains. The total fines amount to $1.95 billion.
Ripple (XRP) price consolidates around $0.50 today as the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) legal battle against the payment-transfer firm Ripple focuses on two key issues this week.
Troubled Times for XRP
Ripple price has dropped by 13% from its highest level of $0.5703 in the past week. However, this pullback indicates that XRP has managed to stay above the critical support level of $0.50. Nevertheless, some technical indicators suggest a short-term bearish trend might be forming.
Specifically, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator signals negative momentum in XRP’s price. Red histogram bars below the neutral line and the MACD crossing below the signal line support a potential price decline.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI), although not yet at oversold levels, shows a value of 46.78, indicating further downside potential. Lastly, considering Ripple’s requests to the court to keep institutional sales undisclosed, it raises suspicions of discounted XRP sales. In such a case, the company indeed causes significant harm to investors. This might be the reason XRP has been a lame duck for the past five years.
