XRP bounced back above $0.73 today for the first time in July 2021, seemingly ending the rut that it has been in for quite some time largely due to uncertainty regarding Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC.

The recent bullish sentiments in the cryptocurrency market ended XRP’s decline at $0.51 after testing the support level near that price point. It has been experiencing substantial buying pressure in the last few days but it experienced a substantial uptick earlier today which pushed up its price to today’s high at $0.75 although. It has since retraced slightly and is currently trading at $0.72.

Source: Binance

What’s causing XRP’s uptick?

XRP’s current price rally reflects the increase in buying pressure as a result of the ongoing bullishness in the crypto market. However, XRP’s bulls received an extra boost today after it was revealed that Ripple Labs has rolled out On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) in Japan. ODL is Ripple’s blockchain-based solution for enabling faster and cheaper remittance services.

The rollout is courtesy of a partnership between Ripple Labs and a Japanese remittance company called SBI Remit, which is one of the country’s largest money transfer providers. The partnership will leverage ODL which is powered by XRP, to facilitate rapid and low-cost remittance between Japan and the Philippines. This is in response to the high demand for affordable cross-border payments by migrants who want an easier way to send money to their families.

Japan is one of the countries that charges the highest remittance fees at 10.5%, which explains why Filipino migrants have been calling for cheaper alternatives. They send roughly $1.8 billion to their family members in the Philippines annually, which means more than $189 million is slashed as remittance fees. The partnership with SBI Remit will allow faster and cheaper transactions on the Coins.ph app, as well as the SBI VC Trade asset exchange platform.

What does the new corridor in Japan mean for Ripple and XRP?

The ODL rollout in Japan is an important step for Ripple Labs because it might encourage other countries, especially in the Asia-pacific region to follow the same steps. SBI Remit will put itself in an advantageous position by leveraging ODL, and this might force other remittance companies in the region to embrace Ripple Labs’ solution.

If a mass adoption of ODL in more countries was to happen, it could potentially lead to more demand for XRP, thus setting it up for a potentially even higher rally. Ripple Labs released a statement confirming that the Japan corridor is the first step towards the pursuit of mass adoption. The company also noted that the ODL service leverages XRP to eliminate the need for pre-funding, thus making it possible for remittance companies to speed up the growth of their services.

What about Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC?

The SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs has so far not made any significant progress, and there have been rumors that the case might be tossed out or end in a settlement in the worst-case scenario. The U.S regulator has so far failed to come up with a watertight argument, even though the legal battle has continued to drag on.

While the recent launch of the ODL corridor in Japan was seen as a major catalyst, there is still some uncertainty regarding XRP due to the ongoing court case. A judicial ruling in favor of Ripple would be one of the biggest catalysts because banks would start to embrace ODL. Ripple already hinted at plans to launch an IPO. This would be strategic for the company because banks are more inclined to work with publicly listed companies than private ones.