On Tuesday, April 21, Paul Atkins was sworn in as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On Thursday, April 24, the SEC will hold a closed meeting — and many are speculating, could it augur the conclusion of the longstanding Ripple v. SEC case?
Despite Ripple Labs Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brad Garlinghouse’s March 19 announcement that the case was concluded, a binding, legal resolution has not yet been reached.
In the meantime, XRP has experienced negative price action. The token’s price has decreased by 17.64% from a post-announcement high of $2.55 down to $2.10 at press time, with year-to-date (YTD) gains standing at 0.83%.
While the token has found a strong zone of support at $2, without a bullish catalyst, a breakout above the crucial $2.20 level of resistance seems unlikely. Let’s examine the likelihood that such a catalyst will occur following the commission’s meeting.
Ripple v. SEC case could be resolved more quickly with Atkins at the helm — but there’s a caveat
Unfortunately for XRP bulls, the odds of the Ripple v. SEC case reaching a definitive end this week are slim. For one, there is no guarantee that the meeting in question will broach the topic of XRP at all — it could very well be centered around the minutiae of the transition to Atkins’ leadership.
Moreover, James Farell, a crypto lawyer who previously worked at the commission, outlined a possible timeline for the resolution of the case in an April 16 X thread. For the sake of brevity, we won’t discuss it at length here, but the timeline envisions a resolution in October of 2025 in the best-case scenario and in January of 2027 in the worst-case scenario.
In addition, the attorney also dismissed fellow crypto lawyer Fred Rispoli’s claim that Atkins’ appointment could speed up the process, citing the fact that the commission has approved several dismissals under previous leadership, and claiming that the delay is most likely because the regulatory body is not yet ready to draft new regulations.
With that being said, there are other factors at play that could drive up the price of XRP outside of the Ripple v. SEC case. Noted chart expert Ali Martinez is anticipating a major price move on account of a Bollinger Band squeeze. Since the cryptocurrency market seems to be in a bullish phase, seeing as how it has seen a $60 billion inflow in tandem with the recent stock market crash, that price move is more likely than not going to be a move to the upside.
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