The SEC has strongly reduced its settlement demands from Ripple from $2 billion to an impressive $103 million.
XRP is currently stuck around the $0.5 price point, with a marked increase in trading volume over the last day but no decisive bullish movement so far.
Despite the price stagnation, XRP's chart indicates an ascending triangle pattern, which is generally bullish.
XRP might consolidate near its current price for a while before a possible upward breakout.
This week is set to be an interesting one for Ripple, considering its latest breakthrough in the ongoing legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
In one of the best bits of news the XRP issuers have received in years, the US regulator has dramatically slashed its settlement demands from a staggering $2 billion to around $102.6 million.
This means that the end of this legal battle with the US regulator is closer to a resolution than anyone realizes.
But can this translate into favourable price action for XRP?
According to pro-XRP attorney James K Filan, the SEC initially asked for $2 billion in settlement.
Ripple, however, countered this request with a $10 million offer, based on the SEC’s history of settlement fees, which typically range between 0.6% and 1.8% of a company’s revenue.
This was similar to the Terraform Labs’ settlement over the Luna collapse, which saw the company pay $4.4 billion in fines.
However, Terraform Labs is being fined a hefty amount because the bulk of the $4.4 billion settlement will be returned to investors, and the company will be forced to cease operations permanently—none of which apply to Ripple.
Despite Ripple's $10 million recommendation, the SEC now stands firmly on its $103 million demands, dismissing Ripple's comparison to Terraform Labs and insisting that the fines deter Ripple (and other companies) from future violations.
While $103 million is more than ten times Ripple’s initial $10 million request, the SEC’s willingness to compromise on the initial $2 billion settlement shows that a final settlement of the whole case might be very close indeed.
When it comes to the charts, XRP is currently struggling with an important price level around the $0.5 zone.
XRP’s price
CoinMarketCap data, at the time of writing, shows that the cryptocurrency trades at around $4.8.
This means that the bull-bear tussle around $0.5 is ongoing.
CoinMarketCap data also shows that we have had an impressive surge in the cryptocurrency’s trading volume over the last 24 hours, featuring nearly $1 billion worth of XRP traded.
But will this be enough for the bulls to capitalize on?
XRP’s price action
The chart above indicates that the cryptocurrency now trades within an ascending triangle, with a stopper around $0.5.
So far, while the trading volume and fundamentals on XRP have been impressive, this has not translated into any particularly bullish signs for the cryptocurrency.
However, considering ascending triangles are commonly bullish formations, the best-case scenario for XRP might be a longer consolidation between the base of the triangle above and the $0.5 zone, after which a breakout to the upside is expected.
Overall, investors need to monitor what happens at $0.5 as Ripple continues to fight its regulatory battle with the SEC.
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