Disclaimer: The information presented does not constitute financial, investment, trading, or other types of advice and is solely the writer’s opinion.
In the backdrop of the ongoing saga between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs, John Deaton, a pro-XRP attorney, condemned the SEC after the securities regulator tried to drop the disputed Debt Box litigation to avoid potential charges and penalties for deceiving the court.
SEC Backlash
The SEC admitted to making misleading representations in the Debt Box case and decided to drop Debt Box’s $50 million fraud lawsuit.
The SEC received scathing criticism from multiple federal courts, including Judge Torres, who labeled SEC lawyers as hypocrites in the Ripple action. An Appellate Court in the Grayscale case concluded that the SEC’s refusal of a spot Bitcoin ETF was unreasonable and unfair.
Coinbase CLO. Paul Grewal also slammed the SEC and its lawyers for withdrawing a complaint after harming the firms and seeking dismissal without prejudice.
"I'm sorry, so sorry
How long must you punish me?
Why can't we just move on?
Let bygones be bygones
But you never will
What's the difference
If this time I'm the one that did the wrong?
Should it matter?"Dolly Parton, "Bygones." And the SEC in its sur-reply in Debt Box. pic.twitter.com/eS6ZStxp2A
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) January 30, 2024
Ripple Labs 101
XRP is a cryptocurrency that Ripple Labs uses to conduct transactions on its network.
While Ripple is a centralized fintech company that began as RipplePay in 2004, it was later co-founded by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb in 2012 with the vision of creating a faster and more secure way of doing transactions around the world.
Although the two have been used interchangeably, Ripple is a technology company whereas XRP is its open-source digital asset.
The crypto operates on its blockchain known as the XRP ledger (XRPL) where transactions are facilitated by RTXP or the Ripple transaction protocol.
It is pre-mined, unlike a lot of other cryptocurrencies, with a maximum token supply of 100 billion. The main purpose of the crypto is to serve as a settlement layer that aids in transactions with the Ripple network.
It has been, however, traded as a cryptocurrency that is available on various exchanges including options, swap exchanges, spot exchanges, futures, custodian and non-custodian exchanges.
XRP vs. SEC: The clash
The United States SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs in 2020 for selling XRP as an “unlicensed security,” claiming that the distribution of $1.3 billion worth of the crypto to its stakeholders violated the law.
The major bone of contention here was whether XRP was a security and, therefore, whether it was a share in Ripple or if it was a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
Ripple has been at loggerheads with the SEC for a few years now.
The SEC claimed that Ripple’s sale of XRP to investors was to fund itself and relied on the 1946 SEC judgment of SEC vs. W.J. Howey Co. to make its case.
In doing so, the agency stated that whether an investor has control over profit is a deciding factor if an investment contract is a security or not.
Ripple Labs, on the other hand, argued that the SEC had neither notified nor warned the organization.
After three years of deliberation, the case was finally ruled on in July 2023. The court found that XRP was NOT a security in itself.
The SEC was also denied the request for an interlocutory appeal and, later, had to drop its securities violation charges against Ripple and XRP.
The SEC got authority over cryptocurrency sales to institutions, whereas crypto-transactions on exchanges would not be treated as securities transactions.
ChatGPT’s take on XRP’s future
While ChatGPT is not equipped with the latest information and does not make any predictions, I used a jailbreak and asked it about what lies in the future for XRP, keeping in perspective the current scenario.
When asked what the future looks like for XRP, given the favorable court ruling, the bot responded by stating that the crypto could see short-term momentum as investor confidence increases.
This could, however, slow down a bit in the long term as the market is affected by various factors such as adoption, sentiment, and regulatory clarity.
The bot also stated that positive developments on the legal front are a positive sign.
However, it is also crucial to keep track of other developments and potential regulatory changes that could influence the price of XRP going forward.
Source: ChatGPT
When I gave ChatGPT some context with Bitcoin and Ethereum’s press time price and asked what would be the price of XRP in the first quarter of 2024, the bot made a bold claim that the crypto would hit $10 per token.
It called this high the “comeback of the century,” but also warned that its predictions are just speculative, and the actual prices may vary significantly.
Source: ChatGPT
Finally, I asked if the crypto would surpass its ATH in 2024. The bot gave me a confident answer, stating that XRP will “blow past” its ATH in 2024 and hit unprecedented heights, leaving its previous all-time high in the dust.
XRP’s current charts
Source: TradingView
XRP traded at $0.52 after falling by 0.8% in the past week.
The price of XRP has been following a bearish trend for the past week but the chart readings of the past day were relatively encouraging for the bulls.
The Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) indicator was seen moving upward after hitting the zero mark to indicate slight buying pressure. The Awesome Oscillator glowed multiple green signal bars below the half-line, which could indicate a possible pullback.
Read Ripple’s [XRP] Price Prediction 2024-2025
Conclusion
ChatGPT is very optimistic about the alt and predicts that XRP will climb to $10 by Q1 of 2024. The bot also seems optimistic about the coin and claims it will make the “comeback of the century.”
Even though ChatGPT can be an effective tool for anticipating price movements, traders should conduct thorough research before investing in any asset, including cryptocurrency.
