XRP ruling by Judge Torres denied in Coinbase lawsuit, yet another blow to Ripple

• XRP programmatic sales ruling by Judge Torres completely rejected by US Court in Coinbase lawsuit. 
• US Court rejected Coinbase’ motion to dismiss SEC lawsuit, weighing heavily on Ripple’s legal battle.
• XRP price fails to tackle resistance at $0.65, pulls back to $0.61 on Thursday. 

XRP programmatic sales ruling was a key milestone that marked Ripple’s partial victory in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit. A development in the SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase has rejected the ruling and is likely to have a significant impact on the regulator’s legal battle with Ripple. 

Daily digest market movers: Ripple ruling likely to be influenced by Coinbase lawsuit 

• The SEC’s lawsuits against payment firm Ripple and crypto exchange Coinbase are closely tied together since a ruling from the former played a pivotal role in the latter’s defense. 
• On Wednesday, a US District court denied Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s lawsuit against the exchange and XRP Programmatic sales ruling was rejected by Judge Katherine Polk Failla. 
• The XRP programmatic sales ruling by Judge Analisa Torres, differentiates between the altcoin’s secondary market sales, made on exchanges and the sales made to institutional investors, and considers that the former does not constitute a “security.”
• Judge Failla rejected the ruling and dealt a blow to both Coinbase and Ripple in the latest court ruling. 

• In the 84 page report, the Judge asserts that “whether a particular transaction in a crypto-asset amounts to an investment contract does not necessarily turn on whether an investor bought tokens directly from an issuer or, instead, in a secondary market transaction. (Def. Br. 13-17). For one, Howey does not recognize such a distinction as a necessary element in its test of whether a transaction constitutes an investment contract, nor have courts, in the nearly eighty years of applying Howey, read such an element into the test. Rather, under Howey, the Court must consider the “economic reality” of the transaction to determine whether that transaction is an investment contract.”
• This development supports the SEC’s crypto regulation by enforcement, allowing the regulator to proceed with their allegations of “unregistered securities trading” against Coinbase and partially reverses Ripple’s victory in its lawsuit. 
• XRP holders are likely to closely monitor the progress of the SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase for more information that could impact Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling on XRP’s programmatic sales. 

Technical analysis: XRP price likely to sweep $0.56 lows

XRP price is consolidating within the $0.65 (50% Fibonacci placeholder of the decline from March 11 peak of $0.7440 and March 20 low of $0.56) and $0.56. The declining Relative Strength Index (RSI) demonstrates a decline in momentum. 

The red bars below the zero line on the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator signal a negative momentum has crept in XRP price and a candlestick close below $0.60, a psychologically important level, could be the nail in the coffin. XRP price could sweep the March 20 low and collect liquidity before a rebound in its price. 

XRP/USDT 1-day chart 

On the upside, a daily candlestick close above $0.63 or the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level, could invalidate the bearish thesis and promote gains in XRP price. The altcoin could target the year-to-date peak of $0.7440 in its uptrend and face resistance at $0.65 and $0.67, its 50% and 38.2% Fibonacci placeholders.