XRP recovers from week-long decline following Ripple’s response to SEC motion

Ripple (XRP) continues to recover on Friday from its almost ten-day decline, clinging to gains after closing above $0.51 on Wednesday. 

In the legal battle between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – which is one of the key drivers of XRP price – both parties are clashing over the validity of the testimony of SEC’s Assistant Chief Accountant Andrea Fox. Ripple filed on Thursday a new letter supporting its motion to strike new expert materials as it considers Fox’s statements as expert testimony and argues that the regulator should have introduced expert testimony during the remedies discovery phase that has passed.

The SEC is expected to file its response by May 6, following which market participants expect a ruling from the court. 

Daily Digest Market Movers: Ripple files letter to support striking expert materials

• The SEC included Assistant Chief Accountant Andrea Fox’s comments on Ripple’s financial statements in its filing. Ripple identified this as “new expert materials” and argued that this should have been introduced in the remedies discovery phase of the lawsuit, which has already ended. 
• The SEC responded to Ripple arguing that the comments from Fox aren’t expert testimony, but “facts and some basic arithmetic.” Therefore, the SEC has asked the court to deny Ripple’s motion to strike new expert materials from the lawsuit. 
• Ripple has filed a letter to support its motion on Thursday. 

• In its letter, Ripple addresses why Fox’s statements amount to expert testimony, why they should have been presented in the previous phase of the lawsuit, and how the expert is relying on her accounting experience to analyze the firm’s financial statements. 
• Irrespective of the fact whether Fox is an expert or a summary witness, the SEC was required to disclose it prior to the close of the remedies-discovery phase, Ripple’s letter reads. 
• The SEC is expected to file a response by May 6, after which the court could rule on Ripple's penalties and fines for its institutional sales of XRP. The SEC has asked the court to impose $2 billion in fines, while the payment-remittance firm countered with a proposal of $10 million. 
• The SEC originally took Ripple to court in late 2020, alleging that the firm had broken securities law with its sales of XRP. In July, the company scored a partial victory as a judge ruled that XRP sales on exchanges were not considered as securities. However, the legal battle continues regarding sales to institutional investors.

Technical analysis: XRP closes above $0.51 on Thursday, eyes further gains

Ripple ended its downward trend on Friday, April 19. Since then the altcoin has formed a higher high and a higher low, on the daily timeframe. 

Ripple closed above $0.51 on Wednesday, a level that acted as sticky resistance for the altcoin. The climb above this level ended nearly ten days of decline. XRP is likely climbing towards $0.5478, a level at which a higher volume of XRP was traded, as seen on the Volume Profile indicator. 

The Volume Profile indicator takes the total volume traded at a specific price level during the specified time period and helps traders identify price levels where the most volume of the asset was traded, helping determine key support and resistance levels. 

The Point of Control (PoC) is at $0.6162, this represents the level at which the highest trade volume was recorded. In its uptrend, XRP is expected to gravitate towards this level. 

XRP could add nearly 6% to its value, climbing to the target of $0.5458. Further up, XRP/USD faces immediate resistance at $0.5574, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of Ripple’s decline between April 9 ($0.6431) and April 13 ($0.4188), and $0.5787, key resistance on the weekly time frame. 

XRP/USDT 1-day chart

On the other hand, a daily candlestick close below support on the weekly chart, at $0.4868, could invalidate the thesis of XRP price recovery. The altcoin could sweep April 13 low of $0.4188 in its correction.