The bulls ride again on XRP’s side, as the token breaks about $1. On the legal subject, things seem to be going well for Ripple’s corner as rumors of an SEC settlement grow louder.

Back in December, the Commission hit Ripple Labs, executive Brad Garlinghouse, and Chris Larsen with a lawsuit for the alleged illegal sales of an unregistered security. In the coming month’s XRP’s price plummeted, exchanges delisted it, some investors lose faith.

As reported by lawyer Stephen Palley, Garlinghouse and Larsen scored a victory yesterday when Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn rule that “discovery seeking 8 years of financial records along w/ subpoenas to 3d parties seeking same were too broad”. Palley classified the decision as a “nice early win” by the defendants but is still skeptical about it being an indication for a resolution on the case. Palley the following:

Winning a motion for a protective order on discovery doesn’t usually portend victory on the merits of the case itself. It depends. And the Court left open the possibility some of this could revisit later, if there are reasons to check veracity.

On the other hand, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said Ripple’s “equity is trading” at up to $3 billion in valuations on a secondary market. Novogratz speculated on the possibility XRP is rallying due to rumors of a possible settlement in the lawsuit. Last February, the parties ruled out a settlement in a joint letter. However, the negotiations took place under the Commission’s previous directive. Gary Gensler is expected to be confirmed by the Senate and his more pro-crypto stance to have a positive influence on the legal process. Novogratz :

Ripple equity is ‘trading’ in secondary market at $2-3bn valuation.  The $XRP on their balance sheet is worth approx $70bn. One price seems wrong. If XRP price is saying settlement coming, the equity is crazy cheap.   If not, the token seems expensive.   Thoughts?

Commenting on Novogratz’s statements Palley said there is no “public” indication a resolution is coming soon. The lawyer classified this subject as “inside” information and claimed a settlement will come after summary judgment practice. Palley :

I don’t know how one can correlate price itself to settlement unless someone has inside information about potential SEC settlement/resolution and ability for exchanges to re-list for trading. Ripple has done better than I expected so far in preliminary motion practice and discovery fights, but there’s a long way from that to case resolution.

XRP in moon mode

Those who hold on to their tokens have been rewarded. XRP is trading at $1,32 with 29% profits in the past 24 hours and the biggest weekly rally in the crypto top ten with 113%.

Trader Kaleo said XRP is yet to reach its top and seems bullish on current price action. Comparing it to the 2017 bull-fun, the trader said XRP’s price quickly reach $2.45 when it broke the $1 mark. In the current rally, there is “way more capital” and fuel for the price to extend the bullish momentum. In the last 24 hours, investors in South Korea are increasing XRP buying pressure as shown by the high trading volume in Upbit and Bithumb, two major exchanges in that country. See more

XRP soared 23% in 24h, and nearly 100% in the past 7d. It is surprising when the official sell-off and the SEC case is unclear. South Korean investors are one of the reasons for the continued rise of XRP. On the two major exchanges in South Korea, XRP/KRW has largest volume. — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain)