Ripple agrees to drop cross-appeal against SEC, XRP’s price remains muted

• The Chief Legal Officer of Ripple announced that the firm would withdraw its cross-appeal against the SEC.
• The SEC will retain $50 million from the initial $125 million penalty and is expected to request Judge Analisa Torres to lift the injunction placed on Ripple.
• XRP may drop to $1.96 if it falls below the $2.34 mark.

On Tuesday, Ripple affirmed its decision to discontinue its cross-appeal against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Despite this positive news, XRP’s market performance has remained relatively unchanged.

Ripple to discontinue cross-appeal against the SEC

Ripple has decided to end its cross-appeal against the SEC, effectively concluding its legal confrontation with the agency.

As per Ripple’s chief legal officer, the SEC will keep $50 million of the initial $125 million fine imposed by Judge Analisa Torres, returning the remainder to Ripple. He also noted that the SEC intends to request Judge Torres to eliminate the injunction that was placed on Ripple last August.

Once the Commission casts its vote and the court formalities are completed, the prolonged dispute between Ripple and the SEC, which has lasted over four years, will be officially concluded.

This recent announcement follows Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s statement last week, indicating that the SEC would withdraw its appeal against the company. The agency has been scaling back many of its actions involving cryptocurrency firms following the resignation of former Chair Gary Gensler in January.

In July 2023, Judge Torres ruled in a district appellate court that XRP sales to retail investors are not subject to securities regulations, in contrast to sales made to institutional investors. In August 2024, she imposed a $125 million penalty on Ripple—significantly lower than the SEC’s request of $1.9 billion—and established an injunction that prohibited the company from selling XRP to institutional investors without registering these transactions as securities.

“The Ripple case tested the SEC’s capacity to impose regulatory control over cryptocurrency through enforcement actions, and its retreat might suggest a growing acknowledgment that clear legal frameworks, rather than litigation, are the way forward,” stated Bitget’s COO, Vuga Zade.

Despite these favorable updates, XRP’s price has remained stable over the past few days.

“The market’s response to Ripple’s victory has been subdued. The case has been ongoing since 2020, and the outcome had largely been anticipated,” commented Agne Linge, Head of Growth at WeFi.

XRP may decline to $1.96 if the 50-day SMA resistance remains intact

According to data from Coinglass, XRP experienced $4.43 million in futures liquidations over the last 24 hours, with $3.44 million in long positions and $0.9 million in short positions being liquidated.

Since bouncing off the upper edge of a descending channel last Wednesday, XRP has been consolidating. Although there was a brief uptick following the SEC’s appeal withdrawal announcement, XRP faced resistance at $2.60. It found support at the $2.34 level but has been struggling just beneath the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA).

XRP/USDT daily chart

If XRP drops below the $2.34 support level and the upper boundary of the descending channel, it could potentially decline to $1.96. Conversely, a decisive move above the 50-day SMA and the $2.78 threshold could see XRP attempt to break its seven-year high resistance at $3.40.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is testing neutral territory, while the Awesome Oscillator (AO) has produced a red bar above its midline, signaling diminishing bullish momentum.

A daily closing candlestick below $1.96 would invalidate this outlook and could send XRP towards $1.35.