XRP News Today: Judge Denies Ripple, SEC Motion to Reconsider XRP Ruling

Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York has denied a motion filed by both Ripple Labs and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking an indicative ruling. This motion aimed to determine whether the July 2023 summary judgment ruling could be reconsidered in light of the recent Coinbase ruling, which clarified the application of the Howey test in regard to XRP sales. However, Judge Torres rejected the motion, stating that neither party provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate how the Coinbase ruling would alter the trajectory of the case.

Both the SEC and Ripple had hoped that the court would consider the Coinbase ruling as a basis for reconsidering the previous judgment. The Coinbase ruling had significant implications for the cryptocurrency market, particularly in how it applied the Howey test to determine whether certain digital assets qualify as securities. The Howey test is a legal framework used to determine whether an investment contract exists, which in turn determines whether an asset is a security.

According to Fred Rispoli, a trial lawyer focused on the cryptocurrency market, both the SEC and Ripple should now file a detailed motion to convince Judge Torres why the case should be ultimately dropped. Rispoli noted that the parties' current approach, which he described as "styling their motion as one for 'settlement approval,'" fails to address the heavy burden they must overcome to vacate the injunction and substantially reduce the Civil Penalty. This suggests that the parties need to provide more compelling arguments to persuade the judge to reconsider the case.

The denial of the motion for an indicative ruling keeps the SEC vs. Ripple case on track for possible appeals. This development is significant for the XRP market, as it indicates that the legal battle between the SEC and Ripple is far from over. The outcome of this case could have far-reaching implications for the cryptocurrency industry, particularly in how digital assets are regulated and classified as securities.

Despite the legal uncertainties, the XRP price remains well-positioned to retest its all-time high in the near future, driven by rising demand from institutional investors. The large-cap altcoin, with a fully diluted valuation of about $242 billion, recently rebounded from the support level of around $2 to trade about $2.43 on Thursday, May 15, during the late North American trading session. However, the XRP price has been trapped in a short-term correction mode, which was exacerbated by the Judge Torres ruling. As of this writing, XRP price had dropped about 5.1 percent in the past 24 hours, thus likely to drop further to retest the support level at about $2.35.