XRP Attorney Flags a “Perfect Storm” for Crypto, Signals Potential Developments

• Bitcoin’s price is likely to experience a rise next year owing to the Bitcoin halving event and Bitcoin spot ETFs.
• Fed let the interest rates remain the same while showing signs of cutting rates for three times in 2024.
• Court results for the Ripple and Grayscale cases were good; only the Binance case was settled by paying a hefty sum.

A series of explosive events have happened this year, like the Binance settlement and resolution of lawsuits for Ripple and Grayscale. Fed stops interest rate cuts while showing signs of possible rate cuts in the coming year. John E Deaton, a crypto-based lawyer, posted on X about the perfect storm that is likely to happen and has happened in the dynamic crypto landscape. 

One of the most important events in Bitcoin’s blockchain is the halving event. A halving event signifies a drop in the rate at which the number of coins are mined. The current reward for mining is 6.25 BTC per block, and after Bitcoin halves in April 2024, the rewards will drop to 3.125 BTC per block. The halving only happens when 210,000 blocks are mined, which is approximately every four years.

Another turn of events that speculated investors was the narratives running about the possibility of spot BTC ETF approvals. The spot ETFs pose an opportunity for traditional investors to gain exposure to the price movements of Bitcoin through their brokerage accounts. Spot ETFs are different from future-based ETFs, where in spot ETFs, investors actually own bitcoins because they invest in the underlying asset and not the derivatives. The approval for Spot Bitcoin ETFs is pending, but it’s looking in the positive direction.     

On December 13, the Federal Reserve kept the interest rate from increasing or decreasing for the third straight time, confirming that the Fed is over with the rate hikes. The Feds are talking about the possibility of three rate cuts next year so that the interest will be closer to 4.6%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that they are fully committed to returning inflation to the 2% goal. According to BlackRock, the Fed Chairperson’s speech was considered to be a green light for investors.  

There were quite a few lawsuits by the SEC against crypto this year, especially against Ripple and Grayscale. The SEC’s case with Grayscale was about Grayscale’s request to turn its bitcoin trust into an ETF, which the SEC turned down. The case with Ripple was about its selling of XRP in an unregistered security offering. In both of these cases, the outcome came in favor of Grayscale and Ripple. 

One of the major news in the crypto industry was Binance’s settlement. Binance agreed to a settlement of $4.3 billion with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve the money laundering case and other cases. Binance founder CZ stepped down as CEO due to the mistakes he made.