- Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, and other team members are in London for business development purposes.
- XRP price is up 45 percent YTD to trade around $0.49 on Thursday despite the SEC vs Ripple case.
Ripple Labs officials have admitted that there is a thinning XRP market liquidity in the United States following the ongoing lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, more than two years ago. However, the XRP market has been thriving outside the United States, following increased adoption by institutional investors. Late last year, the blockchain payment company announced the expansion of the On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) to nearly 40 payout markets.
The company announced that it is making significant progress in Africa, Argentina, Belgium, and Israel, where blockchain adoption has been on the rise.
Ripple Pushes XRP Adoption Away from United States
In a recent congressional hearing, the SEC Chair Gary Gensler hesitated to answer whether Ethereum and XRP, a month other altcoins are unregistered securities or commodities. Having displayed the lack of cryptocurrency regulatory clarity, the Ripple officials have not reserved their intention of diversifying into the global markets. Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty announced that he and other team members are in London focused on business development.
Missed all the excitement yesterday on the Gensler hearing. I am in London, spending time with our team focused on growing our business. Can't tell you how inept the SEC looks from this side of the pond.
— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) April 19, 2023
As the United States delays cryptocurrency regulatory clarity, Ripple-friendly lawyer John E Deaton indicated that the United Kingdom’s regulators could be salivating at the opportunity.
If I’m a U.K. regulator, I’m salivating at the disaster going on in the U.S. and thinking to myself what an opportunity. https://t.co/rGWpXwcBFx
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) April 19, 2023
This comes as the European Union’s parliament almost unanimously passed the cryptocurrency regulatory framework dubbed Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA)
“I welcome the European Parliament’s vote today to approve comprehensive EU rules on crypto: a world first,” Mairead McGuinness, the commissioner for financial services in the European Union, noted.
Already, Ripple is rigorously involved in the European market having co-ordinated CBDC research for the Union. Notably, Ripple and its management team including the Director of CBDC Product Management Anthony Ralphs got involved in a CBDC whitepaper research for the Digital Euro Association (DEA).
Security or Not
The SEC vs Ripple lawsuit is expected to come to an end next month if United States District Judge Analisa Torres issues a summary judgment. If Ripple is found guilty of selling unregistered securities, it will be a huge blow to the cryptocurrency market in the United States. Moreover, all other altcoins including Ethereum will be classified as a security and expected to register with the SEC.
On the other hand, if Ripple wins, analysts forecast it as a bullish event for the entire crypto market. In that case, XRP’s bullish sentiment is expected to scale further in the subsequent months.
In a recent video recording, Deaton noted that the SEC should classify Bitcoin too as a security based on Gensler’s arguments. Notably, Gensler argues that most altcoins are unregistered securities since they have a website, a Twitter account, and constant updates on the underlying network. Deaton countered Gensler’s arguments by indicating even Bitcoin has undertaken several upgrades including the most recent Taproot in defense of the Shanghai upgrade and the rest.
🚨🚨"The #1 thing that I took away from this hearing…that should absolutely scare the living shit out of everyone involved in crypto." – @JohnEDeaton1 🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/wXIDdNVjCk
— Digital Asset Investor.XRP (@digitalassetbuy) April 18, 2023

