XRP Tanks 18% to $0.45 On News of SEC Filing Suit on Ripple, SBI Holdings Back Ripple
In the last 24-hours, Ripple’s XRP has tanked nearly 18% breaking crucial support levels and is now trading at $0.45 with a market cap of $20.90 levels. With this, XRP also drags down its weekly losses to more than 7%. The cryptocurrency has now corrected nearly 30% from its weekly high of $0.65.
The recent price drop came amid Monday’s market-wide correction, however, it has intensified further on news of the U.S. SEC planning to sue Ripple on charges of securities violations. Speaking to The Fortune publication, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the regulator is all set to slap a lawsuit on alleged charges of selling XRP as unregistered securities.
The lawsuit is likely to include names of Ripple co-founders – Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen. Under the alleged lawsuit, the regulator might push Ripple to register XRP as a security, just like the shares of a stock, rather than having the status of a current. However, note that XRP is different from Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) that are minted through an ongoing process called mining.
Ripple CEO Lashes Out At the SEC
Brad Garlinghouse can come forward to once again defend his company. In his consecutive tweets today, the Ripple CEO said:
“Ripple has and will continue to use XRP because it is the best digital asset for payments – speed, cost, scalability and energy efficiency. It’s traded on 200+ exchanges globally and will continue to thrive.
The SEC – out of step with other G20 countries & the rest of the US govt – should not be able to cherry-pick what innovation looks like (especially when their decision directly benefits China). Make no mistake, we are ready to fight and win – this battle is just beginning”.
Ripple Japan-based partner SBI Holdings has extended support to the blockchain startup saying that the Japanese regulator has already given a ‘currency’ status to XRP. SBI Holdings President Yoshitaka Kitao said:
Japan’s FSA has already made it clear that XRP is not a security. I’m optimistic that Ripple will prevail in the final ruling in the US. SBI Holdings remains a steadfast partner to Ripple, and looks forward to expanding together in Asia. https://t.co/MFRxLLAZdG
— 北尾吉孝 (@yoshitaka_kitao) December 22, 2020
Interestingly, these developments come at a time when the not-so-crypto-friendly SEC Chairman Jay Clayton is set to step down in a few days. Also, it comes before the Joe Biden administration is to take charge. In the past, Ripple has been critical about the SEC for hindering innovation in the crypto space. The company had also shown willingness to shift based out of the U.S. to other crypto-friendly countries.
Surprisingly, in a newly released document, Ripple mentions Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as “Chinese-controlled”. Furious by this, Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin lambasted the company.
Looks like the Ripple/XRP team is sinking to new levels of strangeness. They're claiming that their shitcoin should not be called a security for *public policy reasons*, namely because Bitcoin and Ethereum are "Chinese-controlled". ????????https://t.co/ts02JqrTrB pic.twitter.com/mKwEzGIetk
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 22, 2020
Ultimately, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stepped-in with an all-peace message.
Let's be decentralized, but not divided. Let's help each other to grow the industry. #BTC, #ETH, #XRP, #BNB https://t.co/2jQZ48a12x
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) December 22, 2020
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