Ripple-SEC verdict is coming, and the crypto industry expects it to bring the “alt season”

Ripple’s legal battle against the US SEC is coming to a close after more than two years since the regulator originally filed the lawsuit. With the verdict around the corner, investors are looking to the futures market tied to XRP, in hopes that Ripple will win the lawsuit. According to some, this scenario could kickstart the “alt season” where altcoins would rally.

Ripple winning over the SEC would translate into altseason, so follow that closely even if not long "The Standard"

— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) March 29, 2023

Ripple vs. SEC is coming to a close

Ripple, the company that issued XRP, as well as its executives, have been targeted by the US SEC, which accused them of issuing an unregistered security and tricking people into buying it back in late 2020. However, since the original lawsuit was filed, Ripple has managed to come up with an excellent defense.

The company stood its ground so well that it is not really obvious who will win the case. However, this gave the crypto industry a reason to hope, and the price of XRP has rallied 57% since March 22nd, managing to hit a 10-month high of around $0.58.

#XRP on the move again? 🚀 pic.twitter.com/anm3IOkPLp

— 🐼PandaRippleXRP🐼 (@RipplePandaXRP) March 31, 2023

Since the start of the rally, the notional open interest surged by almost 90%, reaching $843 million. Open interest represents the dollar value locked in unsettled/active contracts trading on futures and perpetual futures. The current figure is the highest since December 2021.

With the surge in open interest and price coming together, this signifies that there is a rather serious influx of new money entering the market, and the overall sentiment seems extremely bullish. At the moment, the costs of holding bullish long or short positions, also known as funding rates, are positive on most exchanges. This is another indicator that investors are bullish on XRP, which includes leverage traders.

The stakes are high as the crypto industry awaits the verdict

The crypto market as a whole is on the rise, with Bitcoin exceeding $28,000 once more. The world’s largest cryptocurrency made a move that allowed it to reverse all of the losses seen earlier this week, when CFTC filed a lawsuit against Binance.

Decentral Park Capital’s portfolio manager, Lewis Harland, said that “The bullish impulse stems from Ripple’s case vs. the SEC, where optimism for Ripple’s win seems to be becoming more dominant.” He added Ripple’s victory could set off a bullish impulse down the risk curve, thus triggering the mentioned alt season.

Ripple’s victory would have a large impact on the broader crypto industry, sparking a massive bull run, and likely bringing into question the SEC’s methods for identifying securities. However, if Ripple loses, this scenario could rekindle risk aversion.

Matrixport’s head of research and strategy, Markus Thielen, said that the SEC’s victory could impact other altcoins, as it would allow the regulator to subject them to more securities regulation.