Alex Dovbnya
Despite regulatory clarity, XRP is severely underperforming against Bitcoin
The Ripple-affiliated XRP cryptocurrency is currently on track to record its ninth consecutive month in the red against Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency.
XRP is now down 72% against the crypto king since Ripple managed to score a partial legal victory against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last July.
The token reached its current all-time high of 0.00025 BTC all the way back in May 2017. Currently, it is down a shocking 97% from that peak.
As reported by U.Today, U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres partially sided with the San Francisco-based company, ruling that the secondary sales of the highly controversial token do not constitute a securities offering. The ruling triggered a substantial XRP price rally, but it ended up being short-lived.
In October, Ripple’s top lawyer Stuart Alderoty touted XRP’s unique status in the US since it is the only cryptocurrency that boasts regulatory clarity in the US (apart from Bitcoin).
Ripple is also not off the hook for now. Last year, Judge Torres also ruled that Ripple violated securities offering with its institutional XRP sales. As reported by U.Today, the SEC is demanding that Ripple pays a hefty $2 billion fine. However, Ripple wants to trim that gargantuan sum to a mere $10 million, arguing that it did not show reckless disregard for the securities laws since the company was actively engaging with US regulators.
It remains to be seen how upcoming developments in the Ripple case will affect the XRP price. However, so far, the token’s newfound regulatory clarity has not translated into any meaningful price gains.