When will the Ripple (XRP) wave crest?

Despite altcoins being very much off-trend at the moment, XRP, the payment coin developed by US technology group Ripple Labs, has been riding a wave of popular sentiment.

The coin hit a 10-month high of US$0.585 on Wednesday and though there has been some retraction since then, that does not remove the fact that XRP has rallied over 50% in March alone.

What has got the Ripple bulls into such a tizzy?

After all, the rally comes at a time when most of the major fiat on-ramps, from Binance and Coinbase to Kraken, are getting blasted left right and centre by the US regulators, the very same regulators engaged in a drawn-out litigation battle to classify XRP as an unregistered security.

Ripple rides high (despite recent clawbacks) – Source: currency.com

A win for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its US$1.3bn dispute with Ripple Labs could be a major blow for the XRP token, but the thing is: The SEC’s success is far from a sure thing.

Ripple Labs has been locking horns with the SEC since 2020, when SEC head under crypto permabear Gary Gensler accused the decentralised payment network of raising US$1.3bn through an unregistered digital asset securities offering

Ripple Labs had the opportunity to settle the case in the past, but has instead determined to continue the dispute to the end.

The developer’s legal team managed to net significant wins in the case previously, and speculation is rife across crypto Twitter that Judge Analisa Torres of the US District Court is poised to rule in favour of Ripple Labs any day now.

However, there is absolutely no concrete evidence of this, but as is normal in the cryptosphere, speculation and unfounded rumours are all it takes to set an altcoin soaring.

With such an overbought position, there are clear dangers of a massive selloff as bulls sell the news after buying the rumour for so long. Don’t be surprised at a swing lower if the ruling turns out to be a damp squib.