XRP open interest surges as Ripple and SEC battle

The open interest (OI) of XRP futures contracts has surged, indicating that investors expect its price to rise. Analysis from CryptoQuant shows that after XRP's price re-surpassed $0.50, the number of open contracts increased significantly, reflecting the market's close attention to Ripple's legal dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The dispute between Ripple and the SEC began in December 2020, when the SEC accused Ripple of conducting unregistered securities offerings through XRP. Last year, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple's sales on the public market were not securities offerings, but its direct sales of XRP to institutional investors were.

Currently, the focus of the dispute between the two sides is the amount of the fine. The SEC initially requested a fine of $2 billion, while Ripple's lawyers suggested a maximum of $10 million. Finally, the SEC proposed a fine of $102.6 million. With the increase in open contracts and prices, market volatility has increased, and investors need to be cautious in their response.