XRP sees high buying pressure as lawyer weighs SEC’s appeal against Ripple

• XRP’s strong resilience to the broader crypto market decline was bolstered by increased buying activity across retail and institutional investors.
• The SEC’s delay in filing briefs in appeal of the Ripple vs SEC ruling is a normal occurrence in litigation.
• XRP could reach a new all-time high above $4.50, but faces a key resistance at $2.90.

Ripple’s XRP maintained a green outlook on Monday, rising more than 4% in the past week, while other assets saw a decline. Despite the positive price momentum, a retired securities attorney noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) delay in filing its opening brief for the appeal of Judge Analisa Torres’ Ripple vs SEC ruling is common during litigation.

XRP Investors Continue Buying Activity As Lawyer Sheds Light On SEC’s Appeal

XRP investment products globally recorded over $41 million in inflows last week, according to CoinShares data.

The influx helped the remittance-based token show resilience last week despite the lackluster performance of other top cryptoassets. On the weekly time frame, only XRP is trading in the green among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

The price performance is supported by net XRP outflows across top exchanges. Unlike crypto ETFs, outflows on exchanges mean increasing bullish momentum and vice versa for a decline. In the past week, exchanges such as Binance, Bybit, and OKX have recorded XRP outflows of $82 million, $63 million, and $59 million. However, US-based XRP investors seem more cautious in their behavior as Coinbase recorded over $65 million in inflows.

XRP Exchange Net Flows. Source: Coinglass

Meanwhile, attention has turned to the January 15 deadline for the SEC to file its opening brief for its appeal of Judge Analisa Torres’ final decision in the Ripple vs SEC case. While XRP community members have suggested that the agency may not proceed with the appeal since it has failed to file an opening letter for the past three months, retired securities attorney Marc Fagel suggests otherwise.

In an X post on Monday, Fagel clarified that it is common for attorneys to delay filing a case until it is due.

“In 30 years of litigation, the number of times I saw an attorney (private or public sector) file a complaint before it was due was about zero,” Fagel wrote. “It’s not the SEC, it’s just litigation.”

He also added that a new SEC administration could vote to reject the appeal even if the agency files a brief on Jan. 15, but that would be a “very unusual move.”

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw are expected to leave the agency on January 20 following Donald Trump’s inauguration. Trump has nominated former pro-crypto SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to take over the reins from Gensler.

XRP could rally more than 80% after breaking above bullish pennant

XRP has seen $20.83 million in futures liquidations in the last 24 hours, with liquidated long and short positions accounting for $13.55 million and $7.28 million, respectively, per Coinglass data.

Over the weekend, XRP broke above the upper limit of a bullish pennant that has been developing since early December.

If XRP sustains the breakout and holds the upper limit of the pennant as a support level, it could rise above $3.55 to set a new all-time high near $4.5 in the coming weeks.

XRP/USDT 8-hour chart

However, it has to clear the $2.90 resistance barrier – its highest price in the last six years.

A drop in the pennant could see XRP test its lower limit support line near the $2.00 psychological level.

Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) are above their neutral levels, indicating dominant bullish momentum.

A daily candlestick that closes below the $1.96 support level will invalidate the bullish thesis.