Why is XRP price up today?

XRP’s (XRP) price extended its gains on March 21, rising 21% in the last few hours. 

XRP price rallies as Bitcoin recaptures $28,000

The rally in the XRP/USD pair started on March 21 with the XRP price reaching a 90-day high of $0.459.

The price move comes as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) rallied more than 2% during intraday trading.

Ripple scores early win versus SEC 

XRP’s gains appeared as investors pinned their hopes on Ripple winning its ongoingcourtroom battle against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

On March 6, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres issued a ruling on motions filed by Ripple and the SEC to exclude the comments of expert witnesses from the upcoming summary judgment. Torres approved and denied the motions in part, underscoring no clear winner and loser in the matter.

However, removing the so-called “Expert No. 1,” Patrick Doody, whom the SEC roped as its primary witness to testify about the perceptions of a reasonable XRP purchaser, led XRP market participants to believe that Ripple may end up winning the lawsuit.

@SECGov VS. @Ripple . Judge Torres excludes witness #1 witness Patrick Doody (expert hired to analyze our expectations as #XRPHolders ) . How will the SEC prove that we expected a profit if Doody is excluded? Don’t sleep on this ruling, this is a big deal. #XRP

— RippleEffect (@CommonsenseXRP) March 7, 2023

In other words, the SEC’s argument that Ripple sold XRP as an unregistered security to gullible investors may fall flat.

As Cointelegraph reported in January, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that he expects the lawsuit to conclude “in the coming single digit months.”

Despite macro pressure, XRPL users surge

In addition to regulatory pressure, Ripple also was exposed to Silicon Valley Bank which recently filed for bankruptcy. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse assured the community on March 12 that the company is in a strong financial position. 

Despite the difficulties currently impacting the crypto market, Ripple’s XRP ledger continues to grow. On Feb. 23, total accounts on XRP neared 5 million.

Related: Community urges Coinbase to relist XRP as CEO fights for staking

While Ripple continues to onboard users to the XRP ledger, any positive or negative news regarding the SEC lawsuit is bound to have a significant impact on XRP price.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.