The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), under its current chair, Gary Gensler has been known to go after crypto and crypto-affiliated companies for years.
So far one of the most popular ongoing cases the SEC has against any entity in court is the current one against Ripple Labs (the issuers of $XRP).
Sometime in December 2020, the SEC sued Ripple out of the blue.
According to the lawsuit documents, Ripple was charged with illegally selling XRP to raise more than $1.3 billion in an "unregistered securities offering".
Fast forward to nearly three years from then, and the case is still very much in court.
However, the SEC appears to be losing this one badly and continues to take hit after hit.
Here's what we mean: Ripple Execs Cleared of SEC Charges in Landmark Ruling
According to recent reports, the SEC has not dropped all charges against Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse and founder Chris Larsen.
But how did this happen?
The image above is from a letter that was sent to District Judge Analisa Torres on Thursday.
According to this letter, the SEC is notifying the court that it is dismissing all of its pending claims against Garlinghouse and Larsen.
"This voluntary dismissal obviates the need for the scheduled trial on this claim and moots the October 2, 2023, scheduling order."
The letter goes further to say that "The SEC and Ripple intend to meet and confer on a potential briefing schedule concerning the pending issue in the case".
In detail, the SEC is asking the court to give them until November 9 "to propose such schedule a briefing from the court on a contested basis."
Recall that the latest in the long line of Ripple misses shows that Judge Torres denied the SEC's request to appeal her decision involving XRP at the beginning of this month. So far, Gary Gensler has stated in July, that the agency is "disappointed" with the XRP decision regarding individual investors.
The SEC's decision to drop the charges is a significant setback for the agency, which has been criticized for its "over the top" approach to regulating the cryptocurrency industry.
Recall that the agency recently went after Binance and Coinbase, as well as several other cryptocurrencies and crypto-affiliated companies.
The latest ruling and appeal rejection from Judge Torres also provides much-needed clarity on the regulatory status of XRP, which has been in a tight corner, since Ripple got hit with the SEC in 2020.
The SEC's decision to drop the charges against Garlinghouse and Larsengoes further shows that Ripple as well as its CEO and founder, may have been innocent all along.
The SEC also throwing in the towel also shows that the agency may be caving in, and is willing to be more flexible with how it simply goes after any and everyone.
Ripple isn't having it though.
Despite the SEC's decision to drop the charges, Ripple has sworn to continue fighting for more regulatory clarity in the United States.
According to a Ripple spokesperson, the lack of clear rules and structure is "kneecapping" the growth of the crypto ecosystem.
"We are pleased that the SEC has dropped the charges against Brad and Chris. However, we are still concerned about the lack of regulatory clarity in the United States. We will continue to work with policymakers to develop a clear and fair regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry."
According to COinMarketCap at the time of writing, XRP is now up by as much as 7% over the last day, and by 6.5% over the last week.
XRP is also up on a YTD basis, of about 70%, despite hitting $0.946 in July after the initial partial victory and declining heavily to $0.51 where it now sits.
The RSI has moved up sharply from the neutral zone, indicating that XRP's bulls have retaken control of the market.
XRP has broken through its 20 and 50-day moving averages so far, and things look good.
However, In the charts, XRP is aiming for a retest and break above the $0.5529 zone, to form a new higher high and confirm its bullishness.
If a break above $0.553 happens and the cryptocurrency manages to close above this zone, we can expect to see XRP fully poised to continue its ascent and rally 70% for a retest of July's $0.94 high.
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