2020 was a year of crisis in many ways – just not for large parts of the crypto sector, especially Bitcoin. The signs were also pointing to growth for the Ripple asset XRP. Then the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against the Californian FinTech. A look back at the eventful year for XRP – of cooperations, innovations and regulatory thumbscrews.
The rumor mill was already boiling at full speed at the beginning of the year: At the world economic summit in Davos, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse speculated about an increasing number of initial public offerings (IPO) by crypto companies. Garlinghouse made no secret of the fact that the Californian FinTech would like to enter the trading floor itself . Some were already expecting the Ripple IPO for 2020. Wishful thinking, as it turned out.
Egypt’s largest bank joins RippleNet
Contrary to what its name suggests, the National Bank of Egypt is not a central bank, but it is the largest private bank in the country. So it’s no wonder that the XRP rate reacted positively in February to the news that the bank has joined the RippleNet payment network. The National Bank of Egypt hopes the cooperation will bring efficiency benefits for cross-border transfers and the opening up of new markets. As with most Ripple collaborations, XRP does not play a direct role in the endeavor. Nevertheless, as a result of the news, the price rose by over 11 percent and reached a preliminary annual high of 0.31 US dollars .
Black Thursday also makes XRP see red
While the year had started very promisingly for the Ripple Coin, XRP could not escape the Corona Crash on March 12th. Panic selling pushed the price below $ 0.14. The euphoria that arose in February was gone for the time being – and the hard-won 30-cent mark had moved a long way off. It shouldn’t be the only emotional and technical rollercoaster ride for the asset and its holder.
Siam Commercial Bank joins RippleNet
In April , Ripple announced another partner for its RippleNet with the Thai Siam Commercial Bank. Again, it is about the processing of transfers that come from Thai people working abroad. Thailand is one of the countries in which such payment flows make up a not inconsiderable proportion of the gross domestic product. It was not until August 2020 that the amount of money that flowed into the Southeast Asian country in this way reached a record high of over 46 billion euros (17 170 billion THB). The cooperation between Ripple, SBC and the crypto start-up Azimo should enable these transfers to be carried out much faster than via classic clearing systems.
Ripple is suing Youtube
Attempts at fraud are simply part of everyday life in the crypto space. This not only affects investors who were misled by phishing attempts, for example, but also the projects themselves. At the end of April, things got too colorful for Ripple: The company sued the video portal Youtube . The accusation: The platform is doing too little to prevent scam attempts. In advance, Ripple had to distance itself from so-called giveaway scams several times.
Class action lawsuit against Ripple
At the beginning of May, however, Ripple was also on the other side of the dock . An organization called Bitcoin Manipulation Abatement LLC accused Ripple, among other things, of using XRP to bring an unregistered security to the people of investors. The proceedings are still ongoing. So far, Ripple has only been able to successfully defend a few charges – violations of the California Business and Professions Code. That comes from a verdictfrom October 2nd. The charge of illegitimate sale of securities still stands.
Of course, as the court ruled in its previous injunction, Plaintiff may also bring his remaining first, second, third, and fifth pleas against Defendants for allegedly selling or offering unregistered securities in violation of federal and California state law.