XRP gets an early Christmas surprise

They say Christmas is cancelled in the UK. But, by golly, no one told The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index! The London-listed equities barometer slid slightly as European markets opened Tuesday but then inched 0.1% higher. Bless the Footsie constituents, all of them.

The wider Europe Stoxx 600 index was up 0.7% as of earlier today.

In crypto, meanwhile, the majors over the past 24 hours are a mix of flat and marginally higher.

Tiny ZIL just stood up on the table, joyfully rising 7% to $0.051.

Over the past 24 hours, XRP has declined 18% to as low as $0.45 amidst reports that it expects to be visited by the ghost of legal woes to come.

Fortune and The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported on an interview in which Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed the San Francisco-based company has been put on notice by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that that agency is preparing a lawsuit against it. In a subsequent statement, Garlinghouse said he expects the SEC to sue the company for selling unlicensed securities. The token at the heart of the SEC's supposed claim to come is XRP, the digital coin closely associated with and held by Ripple as well as Ripple's network of ecosystems and the public. Ripple holds half the finite supply of XRP but XRP remains decentralized in terms of holder-based governance, XRP leaders have always contended, stirring endless debate among critics and enthusiasts alike.

In a statement, the company said: "The SEC is fundamentally wrong as a matter of law and fact. XRP is a currency, and does not have to be registered as an investment contract."

As of Tuesday 8 a.m. (EST), XRP over that 24-hour period was down 7% to $0.49. It had ticked up 3% between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. but turned flat as 8 a.m. gave way to 9 a.m.

The SEC has informed Ripple that it planned to file a suit this week. Ripple vowed to aggressively fight back. Now what?

The crypto closely associated with Ripple, XRP, enjoyed a breakout in November as BTC mooned and FOMO took hold, but the onset of winter came even prior to the news of this supposedly looming legal headache. Some traders viewed the potential regulatory hammer as apt to amplify negative sentiment already surrounding XRP of late, Cointelegraph said.

But hold on, let's see the actual complaint, some experts are cautioning before we push the price down any further.

Some traders even say that any legal battle might not have much of an impact and that the lawsuit could turn out to be a "nothing-burger (Cointelegraph).”

Stuffing traders' stockings with volatility, some $2.3 billion worth of Bitcoin futures will expire on Christmas Day.

Skew yesterday said 102,200 BTC options will expire Friday, Dec. 25, with a noteworthy cluster around the $20,000 strike price. As expiration draws near, traders, like wide-eyed kiddies unwrapping toys, often can’t help but fuss with their positions i.e. they take profits.

Merry though you may be on Christmas Eve, even if BTC price levels should come upon the midnight clear, ye traders should not rest.