XRP's price suddenly gained more than 5% while the top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum traded down 2.34% and 1.93%, respectively. At the time of publication, XRP was changing hands at $0.519, up 5.71% in the last 24 hours and up 9.85% in the past week.
XRP is currently showing the largest weekly gains among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. On-chain analytics firm Santiment notes a decoupling in XRP price action from the rest of the market as it touched the $0.52 price point once again.
It notes that XRP is seeing the largest growth in network activity in months as the number of new addresses created in a single day tapped a three-month high at 2,773. Santiment states that this represents the highest 24-hour growth for the network since July 2.
XRP has broadly outperformed the general market on positive expectations of a resolution to the legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The XRP community cheered when District Judge Torres ordered the disclosure of documents relating to a 2018 speech by William Hinman in which he stated Ethereum was not a security.
According to Ripple's general counsel, Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's defense against the SEC lawsuit may be crypto's best chance for regulatory clarity. In December 2020, the SEC charged Ripple and two of its executives with raising $1.3 billion from investors by selling unregistered securities.
XRP is seeing favorable sentiment in light of the lawsuit. Former Ripple critic and Messari CEO, Ryan Selkis, stated in Twitter comments that "Any policy that narrowly defines crypto as BTC and ETH is misguided," given the number of years these top cryptocurrencies have existed in comparison to others.
In the past, the SEC and CFTC have made non-binding statements that Bitcoin and Ethereum are not securities, but are commodities subject to CFTC regulation.