Bitcoin nears $30K, XRP surges post Ripple legal win

0 3 – images.unsplash.com

On October 20, Bitcoin price surged to $29,500 at the time. Its strength prevails despite a hawkish Fed, although concerns of a pullback arise. Meanwhile, XRP’s price jumped above $0.50 following Ripple’s significant legal victory against the SEC in a case that has been going on for three years.

In 2020, the SEC filed a complaint against Ripple Labs and its executives Christian Larsen and Bradley Garlinghouse, alleging a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering through XRP sales. A judge ruled in July 2023 that the sales on public exchanges did not violate securities law, but direct sales to sophisticated investors did.

This ruling could impact similar cases with the SEC. Ripple and the SEC responded positively to parts of the ruling. Following this, Coinbase resumed XRP trading, and Bitcoin price also soared even more. The SEC v. Ripple case is ongoing, with additional charges against the company’s executives yet to be decided.

The Fed’s hawkish stance

Around the same date, Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve Jerome Powell delivered a speech to address a crucial policy matter. Given improved U.S. inflation figures, the Economic Club of New York speech aimed to reassure markets about the central bank’s commitment to addressing inflation, even with a potential reduction in force.

“The stance of policy is restrictive, meaning that tight policy is putting downward pressure on economic activity and inflation,” Powell said about interest rate hikes. “Given the fast pace of the tightening, there may still be meaningful tightening in the pipeline.”

Even so, the speech did not dampen Bitcoin’s soaring price. BTC/USD tracked closer to two-month highs, and it seemed to draw strength from Powell’s speech, per data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.

Powell also acknowledged that the Fed recognized the potential issues of raising rates excessively. He pointed out that being too cautious could “allow above-target inflation to become entrenched,” which would necessitate monetary policy actions with significant employment costs. On the other hand, excessive rate hikes could also “do unnecessary harm to the economy.”

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool data has revealed shifts in market expectations for future rate decisions.

For its upcoming meeting on November 1, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is now unanimously expected to maintain current interest rates, as CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicates. Before Jerome Powell’s speech, the odds were at 88 percent.

After the speech, it was revealed that U.S. regulators had dropped criminal charges against Ripple’s blockchain firm executives. XRP’s price promptly surged, rising over 6 percent within 24 hours at the time of this report.

Bitcoin’s impulse

A trader indicates that Bitcoin’s “impulse” has arrived, with growing anticipation of a U.S. Bitcoin spot price Exchange-Traded Fund. Bitcoin gained momentum overnight, reaching $29,689 on October 20, just $200 below the recent high on October 17.

Popular trader Jelle mentioned Bitcoin’s gradual ascent and aimed for the $30,000 mark. This outlook follows Jelle’s earlier view that Bitcoin seemed enthusiastic about filling the October 17 wick.

CrypNuevo, another trader, noted that this was “a very interesting day for trading.” They highlighted Bitcoin liquidations near $29,400, where long positions surpassed shorts four to one. There was a cautionary note that Bitcoin might retrace during the U.S. trading session.

CrypNuevo shared liquidation data from prior days in multiple posts, cautioning that long positions dominated shorts by a four-to-one margin. He suggested that Bitcoin might experience a retracement during the U.S. trading session.