The price of XRP edged higher on Sept. 2 as traders assessed Ripple Labs gaining an edge over the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in an ongoing courtroom battle.
The XRP/USD exchange rate surged 4.74% to reach $1.296 for the first time since Aug. 23. The pair's climb appeared alongside a spike in trading volume on the four-hour chart, confirming traders' intent to support the upside move in the coming sessions.
XRP has shot to go higher this week, reflecting a similar bullish move in other top digital assets. CrediBULL Crypto, an independent market analyst, noted that the Ripple blockchain token could reach $1.50 to $1.60 next, citing impulse buying sentiment near the bottoms of almost every major cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin (BTC).
SEC vs. Ripple
The latest bout of buying in the XRP market also appears to be due to speculation that it will be labeled a utility token by the end of the ongoing SEC vs. Ripple courtroom saga. In a lawsuit filed in December 2020, the U.S. regulator accused Ripple Labs and its top executives of selling $1.3 billion worth of XRP as "illegal securities."
Months later, the case has reached a point where both Ripple and the SEC want to look at each others' internal communications. Ripple stressed that the SEC has labeled the assets of the top blockchains, Bitcoin and Ethereum, utility tokens in their internal meetings, putting XRP in the same category.
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held an online hearing regarding Ripple's request on Aug. 31. She ended up siding with the defendant's request to "fair use" right of access, stating that she would conduct a personal on-camera review of the documents.
The teleconference attracted attendees from the cryptocurrency community, with many predicting that Ripple will likely win the SEC lawsuit.
CrediBULL Crypto also tweeted:
Additionally, Ripple's CEO, Brad Garlinghouse — also a defendant in the case — said:
"The SEC’s lawsuit isn’t just about Ripple, it’s about what impossible standards of fair notice and due process through regulation by enforcement can do to crypto innovation. Anyone could be next without warning.”
XRP underwent serious reputational damage following the SEC's lawsuit filing in December 2020. As a result, it faced delistings across many leading cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase and Bitstamp. The FUD — fear, uncertainty and doubt — also pushed XRP/USD prices down by more than 66% in the same month.
It appears that Ripple's small wins against the SEC have boosted XRP's bullish outlook in the near term.
Moreover, VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro detected a bullish outlook, flipping from yellow to green on Sept. 1, prior to XRP's breakout.
The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.
The VORTECS™ Score climbed from 59 (orange) to 67 (green) on Sept. 2 alongside a 22.22% surge in Twitter activity, prior to XRP/USD climbing above $1.25.
Technical outlook
XRP's latest gains helped its prices cross above a critical descending trendline resistance that constitutes a bull flag.
Bull flags represent consolidation patterns that follow a strong price move to the upside (known as a "flagpole"). Investopedia reports that such structures are trend continuation indicators, meaning that flags end up sending the prices in the direction of their previous trend.
Related: Ripple files motion to expose XRP holdings of SEC employees
As a result, XRP/USD has the prospect of undergoing a bull run, especially as it attempts to break out of its bull flag pattern to the upside. Should the rally continue, the pair's next profit target would be as high as the flagpole height (approximately $0.28).
That puts the bullish target for XRP/USD at $1.51.
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