Ripple’s XRP Dodges Broader Market Trend, Surges 50% As Ripple Files Strong Response to SEC

In a massive rally, Ripple’s XRP has surged a massive 50% today dodging the broader market trend. At press time, XRP is trading at $0.65 with a market cap of $30.38 billion again reclaiming its spot as the third-largest cryptocurrency in the world.

Ripple has been going through major hurdles off lately after the U.S. SEC slapped securities lawsuit on the company in December 2020. The announcement had major impact as several Ripple partners started distancing themselves from the San Francisco-based blockchain startup.

Moreover, following the SEC lawsuit, a number of crypto startups also started suspending XRP trading. However, it now seems that the investors’ confidence in Ripple is re-building again taking the XRP price to new highs.

The latest XRP price rally comes just a time when Ripple filed its latest response to the SEC lawsuit. In its 93-page submitted by Ripple last Friday, January 30, Ripple pushed against the allegations of selling XRP as securities.

The filing goes to note that XRP is not a security or any investment contract. In a strong message, Ripple added that the SEC lawsuit “unprecedented and ill-conceived legal theory”.

The blockchain-based startup further added: “The functionality and liquidity of XRP are wholly incompatible with securities regulation. To require XRP’s registration as a security is to impair its main utility”.

In its defense, the company further adds that “In 2015 and again in 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) determined that XRP is lawfully used and traded in the marketplace as a virtual currency. Those determinations are consistent with the economic reality that XRP functions as a store of value, a medium of exchange, and a unit of account – not a share in Ripple’s profit.”  

However, some market analysts note that the XRP price rally is nothing but a classic case of crypto pump in a GameStop-like rally last week that left the Wall Street hedge funds bleeding heavily.

After the GameStop event, a similar rally took place in DogeCoin wherein a Reddit community named SatoshiStreet bets pushed the DOGE price 800% higher in a single day by bringing it among the top-ten cryptocurrencies in the world by market cap.

One of the Telegram Groups with over 100,000 people has given a buy call on XRP as per Forbes. One of the group members stated: "Focus on XRP. Please buy and hold”. Even if XRP’s price surge in % terms would not be as high as DOGE’s, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency is eyeing an immediate levels between $0.75-$1.00.