Blockchain company Ripple is facing a legal dilemma as it deals with the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The case has reached a partial victory for Ripple, as Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security. Now, investors are waiting for the final decision.
When Will the SEC-Ripple Lawsuit End?
The court ruled that Ripple’s sales of XRP to individual investors on public cryptocurrency exchanges did not violate federal securities laws. However, sales of XRP to sophisticated investors, such as institutional investors, were deemed securities sales, giving the SEC a partial victory.
One possible outcome of the final decision is for both parties to reach a settlement and resolve the case. If the parties fail to reach an agreement, the case could be taken to court. Additionally, it is likely that one of the parties will appeal the decision, as indicated by the SEC.
Legal experts are divided on whether the SEC will challenge Judge Torres’ ruling and try to reverse her decision that XRP is not a security. There are also speculations that the SEC may target other members of the cryptocurrency market, such as Coinbase, by taking a different stance.
If the SEC appeals, the federal regulatory agency, under the leadership of Chairman Gary Gensler, could suffer higher losses, including financial losses. This could also prolong Ripple’s first appeal until after the next presidential election. In this scenario, it is highly likely that Gensler’s term will end before the case is resolved. The delay is mainly due to higher courts’ preference to refrain from making partial decisions and waiting for a final ruling.
Legal expert Jeremy Hogan commented on the future of the SEC-Ripple lawsuit, saying, “If the SEC wins on appeal, they withdraw some negative cases at the hearing level, but if they LOSE on appeal, EVERY court in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals (DCA) MUST FOLLOW THIS DECISION. They can literally turn a molehill into a mountain.”
As highlighted by experts like Hogan, if the federal regulatory agency realizes that its efforts will not be worthwhile, it may opt for a settlement. In this case, the issues for the XRP community could be resolved much faster. In both scenarios, a partial victory for Ripple could result in a significant surge in XRP price.
What Will Happen to XRP Price if Ripple Wins the Lawsuit?
As of the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.7121, with a 7.94% decrease in the past seven days. However, it has gained 52.52% in the last 30 days.
Google’s artificial intelligence tool, Bard, predicts that XRP could reach an average price of $1.30 by the end of the year. It also suggests more conservative price targets of $0.47 or $0.71 by the year-end. The machine learning algorithm used by crypto prediction platform PricePredictions indicates that XRP could be trading at $0.71 by the end of August.
Furthermore, anonymous crypto analyst CoinsKid recently predicted that XRP could reach $6 by the end of 2023. Another crypto expert analyzing XRP, Cryptoinsightsuk, made a bold claim that XRP could reach $10-15, or even $20-30, after the SEC lawsuit.
