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This is a developing story

TL;DR

• Speculation is rising that the SEC’s upcoming closed meeting under new Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda might address the Ripple lawsuit, but experts warn against expecting major developments.
• Despite Gensler’s exit, the Ripple-SEC legal battle continues, with disputes over XRP’s classification and an ongoing appeal delaying resolution.

Incoming Resolution or Just Another Speculation?

The lawsuit between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains ongoing despite numerous legal developments and changes in the agency’s leadership. Recall that the regulator’s Chairman, Gary Gensler, officially stepped down on January 20 and was replaced by crypto proponent Mark Uyeda.

The Commission has scheduled its first closed meeting under the new Acting Chairman for January 23, causing the XRP Army to speculate that the case against Ripple might be on the agenda this time. Some of the most optimistic predictions include a dismissal of the lawsuit.

It is worth mentioning that the SEC conducts such meetings quite frequently, and there are no public records showing that it has touched upon the aforementioned legal tussle in any of them. 

Marc Fagel – a former regional director of the SEC for the San Francisco office – claimed that those expecting “something monumental to happen” at the upcoming gathering “are about to be disappointed.”

“This is the same meeting they hold nearly every week. They will vote on recommendations calendared weeks ago,” he assumed. 

Not so Fast

The anti-crypto Gensler might be out of the SEC, but the official resolution of the case against Ripple remains challenging. After all, the entities have been confronting each other in court for over four years, throwing punches at each other on every possible occasion.

The core issue in the lawsuit is whether XRP (Ripple’s native token) should be classified as a security. The SEC argues it was sold as an unregistered investment, while the company insists it is a digital asset used for payments and not subject to securities laws.

In 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP sales on public exchanges to retail investors did not constitute securities transactions. A year later, she ordered Ripple to pay a fine of $125 million for violating certain rules. 

The penalty represented just a fraction of the $2 billion the SEC initially asked for, and somewhat expected, the firm was ready to settle it. 

However, the watchdog appealed the 2023 verdict and recently filed the necessary opening brief, thus prolonging the lawsuit indefinitely. 

As XRP, currently the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, navigates recent fluctuations, analysts and market experts are optimistic about its potential for significant price growth. 

After experiencing a brief dip toward $2.83 over the weekend, following an unsuccessful attempt to breach its all-time high of $3.40 set seven years ago, the sentiment surrounding XRP remains bullish.

Market Expert Foresees XRP Propelling To $53

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), market expert and technical analyst Egrag Crypto shared encouraging price targets for XRP investors, suggesting that historical price patterns indicate a possible blow-off top that could drive the token into double-digit territory. 

Egrag highlighted three historical blow-off tops, demonstrating impressive percentage increases that XRP has experienced in the past: one saw a rise of 1,068%, another 2,636%, and a third recorded an increase of 406%. 

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By analyzing these surges alongside corrective phases, Egrag Crypto formulated potential price targets for the next blow-off top for the altcoin, suggesting levels of $53, $32, and $9.70, all of them surpassing by clear difference the tokne’s current record peak.

Egrag previously noted the importance of a critical price range between $4 and $5, indicating that once XRP reaches approximately $4.40, it will enter a “powerful energy field” that could significantly propel prices higher. 

The analyst emphasized that traders should closely monitor price action, candle formations, and oscillator behaviors in this range to determine whether the market is poised for a substantial rally or facing a potential correction.

Despite the optimistic outlook, Egrag urged caution, stating, “I’m still feeling #BULLISHAF, but it’s crucial to remain level-headed when trading and investing, especially with #XRP.” 

He expressed concern that market dynamics might be encouraging retail investors to exit, which could be a strategy to enable the emergence of two-digit prices.

Aiming For A 40% Surge Amid Impressive Monthly Performance

Supporting this bullish sentiment, market analyst Ali Martinez has also weighed in on XRP’s trajectory, noting that the cryptocurrency has recently broken out of a bullish flag and is now targeting the $4.40 mark.

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This indicates a near-term uptrend of nearly 40% for the altcoin, complementing its impressive monthly performance, which has already seen a surge of 43%. However, despite these positive figures, XRP is currently trading at $3.16, still 7.2% below its all-time high. 

The price levels of $3.35 and $3.40 have proven to be significant hurdles for the altcoin, representing crucial barriers that must be overcome to initiate a price discovery phase.

On the downside, the token has established a significant price support range between $2.70 and $2.80 over the past week. This area has become a notable buying zone for investors anticipating further price increases.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com

On Tuesday, bitcoin (BTC) options trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) showed the strongest bullish sentiment since Donald Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory.

Traders scrambled to buy calls, or options offering asymmetric upside exposure, driving the skew higher to 4.4%, the most since early November, according to data tracked by digital assets index provider CF Benchmarks.

Skew is the difference in implied volatility between calls and puts, or options offering downside protection, and positive values represent a bullish sentiment.

“Thirty-day topside skew in the bitcoin options market has reached levels not seen since the November election results,” Thomas Erdösi, head of product at CF Benchmarks, told CoinDesk. “This reflects a strong bullish sentiment, with traders actively positioning for upside exposure across both short- and long-term maturities.”

Bitcoin’s price rose as much as 5%, briefly topping $106,000 Tuesday after buyers defended the $100,000 support level despite President Trump failing to mention crypto or strategic bitcoin reserve in his inaugural speech the day before.

The bounce was accompanied by renewed uptake for the U.S.-listed spot ETFs, which registered a cumulative net inflow of $802 million, according to data from SoSoValue. BlackRock’s IBIT drew $661.8 million alone, helping solidify the bullish sentiment.

“ETF inflows have continued their impressive accumulation streak, marking four consecutive days of significant inflows, amounting to over $3 billion for Bitcoin alone. Bitcoin ($802M) and Ethereum ($74M) are receiving robust institutional backing, which could propel digital assets to new highs,” Valentin Fournier, an analyst at BRN, said in an email to CoinDesk.

Besides, long-term holders — wallets with a history of holding coins for over 155 days — are scaling back their profit-taking activities, according to blockchain data tracking firm Glassnode.

“Looking ahead, it’s possible that volatility levels might moderate slightly towards the end of the month, but we anticipate that the skew for topside will probably remain, barring any surprise policy developments. This will likely provide continued upward price pressure for the foreseeable future,” Erdösi said.

Indonesia’s antitrust agency KPPU fined Google 202.5 billion Rupiahs, equivalent to $12.6 million, on Wednesday for antitrust violation related to its payment system services for the Google Play Store.

The KPPU ordered the search giant to cease the mandatory use of Google Play Billing in the Google Play Store. It also asked Google to let all developers participate in the User Choice Billing (UCB) program and give them a minimum 5% service fee discount for a year after the decision is finalized, according to its statement.

The antitrust watchdog launched an investigation into Google in 2022 for its market dominance — in particular, the company required Indonesian app developers to use Google Play Billing (GPB). The agency found that the Google Pay Billing System had charged fees up to 30%, higher than other payment systems.

The Google Play Store handles payments between developers and users through the GPB System for in-app purchases. Google requires all purchases of digital products and services in the Google Play Store to go through the Google Play Billing system. At the same time, it prohibits other payment alternatives to Google Play Billing. The agency said that limiting the payment options led to fewer app users, reduced transactions and lower revenue.

The agency noted that the Google Play Store is the only app store pre-installed on all Android devices, with a market share over 50%. As for the search engine market, Google held a market share of 95.16% in the Indonesian search market, and other search engines such as Bing, Yahoo!, DuckDuckGo, and Yandex held the rest as of January 2024, according to Statista.

Google plans to appeal the ruling.

“We strongly disagree with the KPPU’s decision and will appeal. Our current practices foster a healthy, competitive Indonesian app ecosystem, offering a secure platform, global reach, and choice, including user choice billing — which enables alternatives to Google Play’s billing system,” a Google spokesperson, Danielle Cohen, said in an email statement.

“Beyond our platform, we actively support Indonesian developers through a comprehensive suite of initiatives, including Indie Games Accelerator, Play Academy, and Play x Unity, reflecting our deep investment in their success. We remain committed to complying with Indonesian law and will continue collaborating with the KPPU and stakeholders throughout the appeals process,” she added.

The tech industry has been closely watching a series of legal disputes involving Google being fined for breaching anti-competitive practices due to its misuse of dominant market power in various countries, including Indonesia, India, South Korea, France, the EU and the U.S. Japan’s antitrust regulator is likely to determine that Google has breached Japan’s antitrust laws and will order the tech behemoth to cease its monopolistic behaviors, according to Nikkei Asia.

Santander’s executive chairman Ana Botin has firmly rejected speculation about the bank’s potential exit from Britain, declaring “we love the UK” at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Botin stated that Britain “is a core market and will remain a core market for Santander fullstop.”

The bank operates 444 branches nationwide and holds £200 billion in customer lending, making it one of Britain’s largest lenders

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The strong denial comes after reports emerged that Santander was reviewing strategic options for its UK business, including a potential complete exit from the market.

Such a move would have affected 14 million customers and approximately 20,000 employees across Britain.

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The bank operates 444 branches nationwide and holds £200billion in customer lending, making it one of Britain’s largest lenders.

Reports had suggested the review was driven by mounting frustrations over UK regulations, including costly post-financial crisis rules requiring banks to separate their retail and investment operations.

The Spanish banking group, which first entered the UK market through its acquisition of Abbey National in 2004, was reportedly examining options to focus on regions with higher growth potential, such as the United States.

Far from expressing frustration with Britain, Botin highlighted the country’s post-Brexit advantages at Davos.

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“The UK has a huge opportunity. Why? Because it can move faster. The UK does not have to agree with 27 countries now,” she told the World Economic Forum.

While she acknowledged regulatory challenges, her concerns extended beyond Britain’s borders saying: “Let’s take a pause on regulation because that is constraining growth, big time.”

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The bank has consistently maintained its commitment to the UK market throughout the speculation.

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A Santander spokesman reiterated: “We remain focused on providing excellent products and services to our 14 million customers in the UK.”

Despite Botin’s optimistic outlook, Santander has faced recent challenges in its UK operations.

In October 2024, the bank announced 1,400 job cuts across its British business as part of cost-reduction efforts.

Speculation grew that santander could quit the UK High Street

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The lender has also set aside £295million to cover potential compensation costs related to a car finance commission scandal.

This provision contributed to a significant decline in the bank’s third-quarter profits, which fell to £143million from £413million in the previous quarter.

However, Santander maintains its commitment to the UK market remains unchanged.

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A Santander spokesman emphasised: “The UK is a core market for Santander and this has not changed.”