Ripple Labs has been stuck in a legal battle with the US securities authority SEC; SEC insists that Ripple XRP is acting as a security while Ripple rejects that claim. It has been going on for many months now and it will probably continue for many more months, which seems to be weighing on Ripple.
Other cryptocurrencies have made considerable gains since the latest dip in June, while Ripple has barely crawled for about a month. In fact, it seems like Ripple coin will probably resume the decline again, since the 20 SMA (gray) is not letting it turn bullish. Instead, it keeps pushing the highs lower, keeping XRP/USD subdued.
Barclays UK, the British branch of the financial institution, suspended all debit and credit card payments from the UK to Binance, referencing the recent decision by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ban Binance from operating in the UK. That affects Ripple as well.
The 20 daily SMA keeps pushing XRP/USD down
Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz responded on Twitter to a message from the Barclays UK Help account, emphasizing the importance of freedom of choice in light of the negative repercussions of the FCA announcement.
He is quite right, banks and intermediaries are taking too much authority on their hands, deciding what people can spend their money on and what not, or where their customers can make transfers. One of the main attributes of the crypto ecosystem is to transfer more control in the hands of the users, enabling them to decide what to do with their money without stressing about the control of governments and regulatory agencies using concepts such as safety to justify intrusive measures.
XRP/USD
So, the decision from Barclays seems like an effort from governments and their regulatory agencies (the establishment) to prevent a loss of control and tracking ability by restricting crypto as much as possible. We will see how this war will progress from here, but I’m sure freedom will win. For now, Ripple is under pressure as explained in our 2021 Ripple forecast, while other cryptos are starting to look bullish.