It could be a crucial day for XRP as another closed SEC meeting looms, potentially spotlighting the Ripple case on Thursday, May 22. On Thursday, May 15, Judge Analisa Torres rejected the SEC’s request for an indicative ruling on settlement terms for the case. The agency had requested Judge Torres to lift the ban on XRP sales to institutional investors and to lower the $125 million penalty.
On May 15, XRP tumbled 6.51% in response to the ruling but avoided a drop below $2.2, with optimism about a resolution to the case limiting the downside. The May 22 closed meeting may provide the SEC Commissioners with the quorum to vote on the next steps in the case.
Judge Torres rejected the SEC’s request on the basis of a procedural error, failing to file the request under rule 60. Notably, the court ruling raises another crucial question. Would Ripple withdraw its cross-appeal and the SEC its appeal if the injunction remains?
It is plausible for the SEC to vote on whether to drop its appeal regardless of the outcome of the settlement.
An SEC vote in favor of dropping the appeal could pave the way for a US XRP-spot ETF market, crucial for XRP’s supply-demand trajectory.
The US XRP futures ETF market has signaled robust investor interest. Bloomberg Intelligence Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas remarked on the imminent launch of the very first US XRP-futures ETF:
“VolatilityShares is launching the first-ever XRP futures ETF tomorrow, ticker XRPI. yes there is a 2x XRP already on market (this is first 1x) and it has $120m aum and trades $35m/day. Good signal that there will be demand for this one.”
However, the SEC recently delayed its review of the Franklin XRP Fund and Grayscale’s XRP Trust conversion, with more spot-ETF review delays likely today. 21Shares XRP ETF, Bitwise XRP ETF, Canary Funds, and WisdomTree have upcoming intermediate deadlines this week. Bloomberg Intelligence ETF Analyst, James Seyffart, remarked on the likelihood of delays:
“Delays on spot crypto ETFs are expected. A bunch of XRP ETPs have dates in next few days. If we’re gonna see early approvals from the SEC on any of these assets — i wouldn’t expect to see them until late June or early July at absolute earliest. More likely to be in early 4Q.”