DOGE Part Ways with XRP and BTC

SEC v Ripple Case: Court Schedule Sends the Case into April 2024

On Monday, Judge Analisa Torres issued the scheduling order for the final stage of the SEC v Ripple case. According to the court order, the SEC and Ripple must complete remedies-related discovery by February 12, 2024. The SEC and Ripple must file remedies-related briefs by March 13, 2024, and April 12, 2024, respectively. Finally, the SEC must file any reply to the Ripple brief by April 19, 2024.

The final stage of the case relates to the remaining charge of XRP sales to institutional investors and associated penalties. While the SEC is eyeing a $770 million disgorgement, legal experts believe the final penalty will be substantially lower.

CryptoLaw US founder and amicus curiae attorney John E. Deaton provided detailed reasons why the penalty will be far less than $770 million. Deaton cited three case laws likely to feature in the Ripple brief.

1. Liu v SEC: A penalty award cannot exceed the net profits of the wrongdoer and must go to the victims.
2. SEC v Govil: The court held that the SEC may not ask for a crippling penalty without proving investors suffered actual financial harm.
3. Morrisson v National Australia Bank: The court held that the SEC only has jurisdiction over US-based sales.

Considering the three case laws,

1. Net profits exclude business-related costs, reducing the $770 million inflow from sales to institutional investors.
2. There will be a debate on who suffered harm. Deaton argued that XRP has a higher value now than at the time of XRP sales to institutional investors.
3. Before calculating net profits, Ripple will deduct all non-US sales of XRP from the $770 million. If 95% of sales were to non-US institutional investors, the starting point would be under $39 million.

Despite the favorable case law, XRP declined by 7.43% to $0.6118, Monday through Friday. The prospects of the case extending into the summer weighed on buyer appetite. There is also the threat of the SEC appealing the Programmatic Sales ruling after the case.

XRP-Spot ETF Fake News Sent XRP to $0.75

On Monday, November 13, XRP briefly struck a high of $0.7503, last visited in July. Fake news of BlackRock (BLK) applying for an XRP-spot ETF called iShares XRP Trust fueled the rally.

The pump and dump lasted less than one hour. James Seyffart initially responded to the news of the filing, saying,

“Didn’t see this one coming. It’s definitely on the site. Similar filing info to the Ethereum Trust filing. This XRP trust would be a sign of BlackRock truly going after the SEC if this is really from BlackRock.”

The fake news briefly countered updates from the ongoing SEC v Ripple case.

Dogecoin (DOGE) Rockets to a Friday High of $0.0877

On Thursday, Dogecoin shared details of physical DOGE traveling in The Moon Box to the Moon.

Peregrine Mission 1 will carry 21 payloads and could be the first lunar landing since Apollo 17. The cargo includes scientific instruments, tech, mementos, and other payloads.

According to the payload manifest, there will also be a copy of the Genesis Block, the first mined block of bitcoin (BTC), and a physical coin loaded with one Bitcoin. The launch will happen in December 2023.

Monday to Friday, DOGE was up 9.64% to $0.0853.

Worldcoin Sinks on Sam Altman Ousting

On Friday, OpenAI announced the departure of Sam Altman, co-founder of Worldcoin.

Worldcoin (WLD) tumbled by 8.57% to $1.995 in response to the news.