(Some Fortune Crypto pricing data is provided by Binance.)
Ripple’s court brawl with the Securities and Exchange Commission could be decided soon, and fans of the related cryptocurrency are pushing the token’s price in anticipation.
XRP on Tuesday morning broke the 50-cent mark, reaching its highest level since April before retreating. The coin was up about 3.5%, to about 49 cents, just before midday.
In recent days, the cryptocurrency has seen a surge in enthusiasm as Ripple's case with the SEC has heated up. In 2020, the agency, led by Chairman Gary Gensler, sued Ripple and two executives, including CEO Brad Garlinghouse, accusing them of selling $1.3 billion in unregistered securities in the form of XRP, which Ripple is arguing is not a security.
Unlike other crypto companies such as Kraken and BlockFi, Ripple chose to go to court instead of settling with the SEC. In doing so, the company has garnered supporters from across the industry, some of whom accuse Gensler and the SEC of “regulation by enforcement.” The two parties have been in court since last year, but in an interview last week, Garlinghouse said he expects the case to conclude in “weeks not months.”
BREAKING #XRPCommunity : @bgarlinghouse expects a court case resolution in weeks and not months , following the recent court news regarding the Hinman emails!
— XRPnewt🏴☠️ (@XRPnewt) May 25, 2023
PS: feels like the interviewer is an XRP holder 🤣 pic.twitter.com/OT303FoNZI
XRP had jumped nearly 8% over the last week, after several weeks in which it had failed to break the 50-cent mark. Just before midday on Tuesday, Bitcoin was down less than 1%, at $27,332, and Ethereum was up 0.35%, at $1,903.
According to a report by CoinShares, eight of the most popular investment products tracking cryptocurrencies saw outflows of more than $39 million last week. Still, allocations to XRP by these investment products increased by $100,000 last week and have gone up by $3 million since Jan. 1.
