25-7-2023 (LONDON) XRP has emerged as the unlikely white knight of the cryptocurrency world, overcoming regulatory challenges and lifting the market out of the doldrums. The price of XRP surged 78% following a US judge’s ruling that the token’s issuer, Ripple Labs, had not violated securities law by selling it on public exchanges. Its market cap has now swelled to $36bn, up from $25bn before the ruling.
Ripple’s victory has energised the market for altcoins, as regulatory scrutiny focuses on whether some tokens should be classified as more tightly-regulated securities. The altcoin market cap has jumped to $665.2bn from $636.38bn before the ruling, while a Cryptoquant index of the prices of SEC-targeted coins has risen 11%.
“This is a big milestone for the altcoins sector,” said Matteo Greco, analyst at Fineqia International. “It is fair to assume that if XRP is not a security, barely any other digital asset can be considered that way.” However, legal experts suggest that the SEC will appeal the ruling.
XRP’s use in payment settlements and remittances has been affected by the lawsuit and the rise of competitors like stablecoins. Ripple said last week that its pursuit of sound crypto regulation in the US was far from concluded. Meanwhile, some institutional investors are taking note of the altcoin market, with 10% of investors surveyed now investing in altcoins, compared to 5% last month.
