Altcoins Rally as SEC and Ripple Legal Battle Concludes
Altcoins such as XRP, Stellar (XLM), and Chainlink (LINK) rallied on Friday as crypto markets celebrated the formal end of the SEC and Ripple Labs’s appeals and much-anticipated end of the five-year legal battle.
XRP rocketed 10.5% to $3.32, XLM jumped 14.6% to $0.46, and LINK surged 14.0% to $19.22 in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Altogether, the global crypto market cap has gained 1.2% in the past day, rising to $3.89 trillion.
Other major altcoins followed suit, with Sui (SUI) climbing 8.1% to $3.79, Cardano (ADA) rising 7.2% to $0.79, Hyperliquid (HYPE) gaining 7.0% to $40.54, and Solana (SOL) rising 7.9% to $0.22.
Ethereum (ETH) joined the rally, posting a 4.6% gain to $3,892.83, while Solana gained 3.5% to $175.37.
The recent market resurgence has 85% of Myriad Market users confident that ETH will be able to surpass $4,000 before the end of the month—a steep uptick from yesterday, when 54% of users thought it would happen.
(Disclosure: Myriad is a prediction market and engagement platform developed by Dastan, parent company of an editorially independent Decrypt.)
The rally comes after both the SEC and Ripple filed to dismiss their respective appeals in the Second Circuit Court, with the $125 million penalty now transferring to the U.S. Treasury.
The 2023 split ruling remains intact. The judge found that institutional XRP sales violated securities laws, while public exchange sales did not.
“The crypto market saw a rapid change in sentiment driven by multiple factors, not just the end of SEC and Ripple’s appeals removing a major hurdle for XRP,” Illia Otychenko, Lead Analyst at CEX.IO, told Decrypt.
“Momentum primarily surged after Trump signed an executive order allowing crypto in 401(k) retirement plans,” he said, noting additional catalysts including the SEC’s clarification that certain liquid staking activities are not securities.
The SEC’s Wednesday statement confirmed that staking protocols such as Ethereum’s Lido and Solana’s Jitoare are not considered securities.
The analyst noted, “this rapid change sparked local FOMO, amplified speculation on social media, and pushed the Fear & Greed Index back into the greed zone.”
Mal Zane, Regional Director at crypto exchange CoinEx, told Decrypt about XRP’s technical breakout potential, saying “a breakout above $3.33 could pave the way toward $3.65 in the coming days.”
“If positive news flow and liquidity inflows persist, medium-term targets are estimated at $5.00–$5.50 over a 1–1.5-month horizon,” Zane added.
“A break of $3.10” could pause XRP’s run, Zane said, with downside likely toward $2.80.