- Pro-XRP attorney John Deaton argues that the altcoin XRP can hit its new all-time high during a Bitcoin bull run.
- Deaton argues that despite Ripple’s partial victory against the US SEC, a bull market is needed for XRP to hit a new high.
- XRP price is up 85% since the beginning of 2023.
Attorney John Deaton, who signed up as amicus in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple, believes XRP price could hit its all-time high. Deaton argues that it would require a Bitcoin bull market for XRP price to rally to a new peak.
Ripple’s partial victory against the SEC failed to push the altcoin to a new high in 2023.
Also read: Shiba Inu price rally likely to continue with bullish catalysts, SHIB price climbs 18% in two days
XRP price could hit its new all-time high on one condition
XRP price is $0.6334 at the time of writing, on Binance. The altcoin has wiped out its gain since Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling, in favor of a partial victory for Ripple. Pro-XRP attorney, John Deaton, remains bullish on the altcoin and predicted that the asset is likely to hit a new all-time high, in a Bitcoin bull market.
The partial victory against the US financial regulator failed to catalyze XRP price rally to a new all-time high. Deaton argues that this is due to the fact that Bitcoin price remained largely unchanged and market participants are awaiting a BTC bull market, to push altcoin prices higher.
It’s all about expectations. Unless we were in a full bull market – led by #Bitcoin – I never believed XRP would hit an ATH, even after a good ruling and I said that when asked about my expectations on price (although I did expect it to break $1 tbh). But until #Bitcoin breaks… https://t.co/alMOGfHne6
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) August 5, 2023
It’s all about expectations. Unless we were in a full bull market – led by #Bitcoin – I never believed XRP would hit an ATH, even after a good ruling and I said that when asked about my expectations on price (although I did expect it to break $1 tbh). But until #Bitcoin breaks… https://t.co/alMOGfHne6
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) August 5, 2023
Deaton’s thesis is based on market participants’ expectations in different phases of the market. Since the beginning of 2023, XRP price has climbed 85%, yielding double-digit gains for holders after the multi-year SEC lawsuit partially ended.
The XRP community is awaiting the SEC’s next steps. It remains to be seen whether the regulator will appeal the ruling and Judge Torres’ decision will be overturned. Until then, Deaton remains bullish on XRP price, if Bitcoin price breaks out in the ongoing market cycle.
SEC vs Ripple lawsuit FAQs
It depends on the transaction, according to a court ruling released on July 14:
For institutional investors or over-the-counter sales, XRP is a security.
For retail investors who bought the token via programmatic sales on exchanges, on-demand liquidity services and other platforms, XRP is not a security.
The United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Ripple and its executives of raising more than $1.3 billion through an unregistered asset offering of the XRP token.
While the judge ruled that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, sales of XRP tokens to institutional investors are indeed investment contracts. In this last case, Ripple did breach the US securities law and will need to keep litigating over the around $729 million it received under written contracts.
The ruling offers a partial win for both Ripple and the SEC, depending on what one looks at.
Ripple gets a big win over the fact that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, and this could bode well for the broader crypto sector as most of the assets eyed by the SEC’s crackdown are handled by decentralized entities that sold their tokens mostly to retail investors via exchange platforms, experts say.
Still, the ruling doesn’t help much to answer the key question of what makes a digital asset a security, so it isn’t clear yet if this lawsuit will set precedent for other open cases that affect dozens of digital assets. Topics such as which is the right degree of decentralization to avoid the “security” label or where to draw the line between institutional and programmatic sales are likely to persist.
The SEC has stepped up its enforcement actions toward the blockchain and digital assets industry, filing charges against platforms such as Coinbase or Binance for allegedly violating the US Securities law. The SEC claims that the majority of crypto assets are securities and thus subject to strict regulation.
While defendants can use parts of Ripple’s ruling in their favor, the SEC can also find reasons in it to keep its current strategy of regulation by enforcement.
The court decision is a partial summary judgment. The ruling can be appealed once a final judgment is issued or if the judge allows it before then. The case is in a pretrial phase, in which both Ripple and the SEC still have the chance to settle.
Like this article? Help us with some feedback by answering this survey:
