Watch: Kim Kardashian targeted by SEC and Ripple on the Rise | The Crypto Mile Weekly Update
The price of Ripple (XRP-USD) jumped this week after it scored a procedural victory in its legal case against the SEC. But, the US regulator also scored its own win after Kim Kardashian agreed to settle an SEC charge claiming she was promoting a little-known cryptocurrency without disclosing that she was paid to do so.
On this week’s The Crypto Mile Weekly Update, we focus on the impressive rallies from the XRP (XRP-USD) and Quant (QNT-USD) cryptocurrencies.
Ripple (XRP-USD) has seen a renewed interest from traders after improving its chances in its lawsuit against the SEC after two judges ordered the commission to release documents by William Hinman, its former director.
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It is unclear whether the documents could help Ripple in its case against the US Security Exchange Commission (SEC), but following the news, XRP shot up over 12% in the past seven days.
The US District Court judge involved in the Ripple vs SEC case ordered the release of emails and other correspondence written by former SEC Corporation Finance division director William Hinman that reportedly suggest that he said ether (ETH-USD) was not a security because, like bitcoin, it was “sufficiently decentralised.”
Part of Ripple’s legal strategy is to use Hinman’s communications to show the SEC has been contradictory when regulating cryptocurrencies, and if it’s successful, the case could set an important precedent for the crypto industry.
Read more: Ethereum price drops 20% as SEC declares control over network
Ripple’s defence against the SEC involves arguing that digital assets that function solely as a means of exchange in a decentralised network should not be classified as a security, and if ether can be excluded from the SEC’s scrutiny, then so can XRP.
However, the alleged content of Hinman’s communications do not correspond with the current Director of the SEC, Gary Gensler, who has reiterated that all cryptocurrencies, apart from bitcoin, will be regarded as securities.
XRP now stands at $0.49, as of the time of writing.
Kim Kardashian and the SEC
The SEC are beginning to crack down on celebrities who endorse cryptocurrency projects and fail to disclose they have been paid to do so.
One celebrity that has been the focus of an SEC investigation is Kim Kardashian.
The reality TV star agreed to pay a $1.26m fine for advertising a little-known cryptocurrency called EthereumMax on her Instagram page without disclosing that she was paid to do so.
Following the charges levelled by the SEC against the socialite, the EthereumMax (EMAX-USD) cryptocurrency jumped 124% in value.
But this was followed by a sharp nosedive as day traders dumped their holdings after the brief pump.
EthereumMax then slid 47% lower than the high it reached on October 3.
The Quant Network
Another crypto that has risen in response to the market volatility is Quant.
Quant (QNT-USD) rose over 7% this week. The Quant Network’s indigenous cryptocurrency is priced at $138.33 and saw an almost 50% rise in value throughout September.
The proliferation of distributed ledger technology could see the Quant Network become one of the core systems for processing the transfer of value and information across the globe.
The UK-based cryptocurrency, which is ranked 34th in the sector’s market cap rankings, is positioning itself to become the glue that joins the world’s public and private blockchains together.
This gives it a unique position to be utilised in the design of central bank digital currencies or CBDCs.
Quant (QNT-USD) has an almost monopoly in the “state cryptocurrency” sector and its multiple-blockchain expertise is sought by the builders of CBDCs.
The macroeconomic headwinds whipping away hopes of a bull-run in global markets took a mid-week respite, with US markets, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) finishing on a high on Tuesday, after the beginning of the week saw a sharp two-day rally on Wall Street.
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