The victory of cryptocurrency major Ripple over a US lawsuit may have proven its "grit" in the face of legal turmoil but it apparently isn't enough to calm nerves in a highly volatile market.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission eventually decided to back down on its half-decade legal fight against the San Francisco-based company, Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse revealed on Wednesday.
The case was "doomed from the start" and the victory "resounding" not only for Ripple, but also "for crypto, every way you look at it", chief executive Mr Garlinghouse declared in an X post.
Ripple said it was "the first crypto company with the grit and resources to stand up to the SEC’s overreach". However, the win may not have much of a ripple effect on the broader sentiment within the industry.
Why was the SEC chasing Ripple?
The Ripple-SEC tussle began in 2020 when the regulator alleged that the company raised $1.3 billion in 2013 by selling the token in an unregistered security offering. Ripple countered that XRP should not be treated as a security.
The case came to an end in July 2023 when a judge ruled that XRP – and, broadly, cryptocurrency – is not a security if it is sold to the public on an exchange, but would be if sold to institutional investors. That dealt a major blow to the SEC's efforts to rein in the industry.
Shortly after that, the company said its win highlighted the need for industry players and governments to collaborate and work together to help advance the technology deemed the future of finance – instead of going to court and try to take down crypto players – Ripple president Monica Long told The National.
Is it really over?
Not quite: Ripple and the SEC are still locked in court over part of their litigation involving a $125 million fine imposed by the judge who handed the company the 2023 victory.
The fine is in escrow; Ripple is to decide if it will appeal or pay up, the company's chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty told Bloomberg.
How did XRP react?
As expected, XRP – the fourth-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, according to CoinMarketCap data – jumped by about 10 per cent to more than $2.51 following the news.
However, it quickly cooled down: as of Friday afternoon, XRP has lost about 5.6 per cent from that peak. That might have been a knee-jerk reaction, since the crypto industry has more things to worry about.
What's muting Ripple's victory?
Two major things: the uncertainty stemming from the trade wars, led by the administration of US President Donald Trump, and the general volatility in stock markets.
Bitcoin and the overall industry soared to new heights after Mr Trump recaptured the White House, promising to "fight like hell" to protect cryptos. However, the magic has since faded, amid America's tariff wars with its key trading partners.
Last month's record $1.5 billion hack of Dubai-based Bybit didn't help sentiment either, as it continued to show the vulnerability of the largely unregulated digital assets industry.
Meanwhile, stock markets are also feeling the pressure of macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures, despite positive data coming from the US and China, the world's two biggest economies.
That's because investors are now reconsidering their positions on high-risk assets like cryptos and trending towards safer ones such as gold, which hit another all-time high on Thursday breaching the $3,000 mark for the first time last week.
On Wall Street, major indices are down in 2025: the S&P 500 has lost 3.7 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has retreated 1.4 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has shed 8.4 per cent. At this point last year, the Dow was up nearly 5 per cent, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were soaring at least 9 per cent.
The effects of all these have been mirrored in the crypto market: from a record high of more than $109,000 in January, Bitcoin has retreated by nearly a quarter. It was trading at a little more than $83,500 in Friday afternoon trading.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission 10-speed automatic
Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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