Another attorney representing Ripple has withdrawn from the ongoing lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), causing uncertainty for XRP holders. Ripple has requested permission from the court to withdraw Lisa R. Zornberg as an attorney in the case, as she will no longer be working with the law firm from July 31. However, this will not affect Ripple's relationship with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, as other attorneys from the firm will continue to represent Ripple Labs in the case. The court had previously approved withdrawal motions for three other attorneys, and the case has been referred to a settlement conference.

Evernode, a Layer 2 platform for the XRP Ledger ecosystem, has provided updates on its progress towards launch. The platform brings smart contracts via Hooks to the ecosystem and has tentatively scheduled the audit of the Hooks V3 testnet to begin in mid-August. However, Evernode is still waiting for paperwork and funds from Ripple to confirm.

XRPScan has introduced real-time tracking of Palau Stablecoin transactions on the XRP Ledger, providing transparency to the collaboration between Ripple and Palau. Users can now closely monitor Palau Stablecoin transactions on the XRPL in real-time thanks to XRPScan. The addition of the Palau Stablecoin Pilot wallet on XRPScan has brought a new level of transparency, giving users access to important information about payments and trust sets related to the Palau Stablecoin. The Palau Stablecoin pilot program has reached Phase One, involving the voluntary participation of government employees who have embraced PSC for transactions with select local merchants in Palau.

After almost four days, the flood of scam tweets on pro-XRP lawyer Jeremy Hogan's hacked account has stopped. The XRP community had been warning others and tagging Twitter's support since July 24 when they noticed Hogan's account tweeting malicious links for a supposed XRP giveaway.

Gary Gensler, the Chair of the SEC, avoided answering questions about the agency's next steps in response to the recent XRP vs SEC lawsuit ruling. During an interview with Bloomberg TV, he did not confirm whether the SEC would appeal the decision. Gensler had previously expressed disappointment with the ruling, and the SEC has stated its intention to seek further review. The ruling determined that XRP is only a security when sold to institutional investors, not retail investors, and many US-based crypto exchanges have since relisted the token.

Corpay, a partner firm of Ripple, has launched a new financial tool called the Netting Manager, which aims to automate and streamline the settlement of internal invoices for multinational corporations with global subsidiaries. The system uses intercompany netting, a financial technique commonly used by multinational firms to combine transactions in different currencies, resulting in significant time and cost savings. The Netting Manager has a user-friendly design that enables firms of all sizes to adopt it in just a couple of days, and it seamlessly interfaces with the most popular core accounting systems used by organizations. <br>

The Palau stablecoin, which is fixed in value to the US dollar, has entered Phase One of its pilot project in partnership with Ripple. The project aims to make payments cheaper, faster, and easier, and bring financial inclusion to everyone, especially those in remote areas. The stablecoin can be used just like fiat currency on a digital wallet, and a live demonstration showed a transaction executed in 7 seconds. The Palau Ministry of Finance holds control of the stablecoin during the pilot phase, with select retailers able to redeem it for fiat currency to be sent to their local bank accounts.

Congressman Brad Sherman has criticized the recent Ripple case ruling that declared XRP as "sometimes a security and sometimes not." During a congressional hearing, Sherman labeled the verdict as "ridiculous" and expressed his broader critique of the crypto industry, which he associates with illegal activities and financial impropriety.

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's CLO, has stated that the recent ruling in the XRP securities case could have implications for ongoing cases against Coinbase and Binance initiated by the SEC. Alderoty believes that the ruling will play well in both cases and that the SEC will lose if it claims assets are securities in their own right. Despite this, Alderoty does not believe that the SEC will end its attempts to regulate the crypto sector through enforcement. He also emphasized Ripple's separation from XRP and discussed the possibility of the SEC appealing other parts of the case.

Palau's government will launch a pilot project for a US dollar-backed stablecoin on July 26, using Ripple's CBDC platform. The Palau Stablecoins (PSCs), nicknamed Kluk, will be issued to government employees in the pilot project after testing with volunteers. Palau already has a digital residency program and issues ID supported by Cryptic Labs, available as a nonfungible token on the Binance BNB blockchain. Pacific island nations have been active in crypto development, with the Republic of the Marshall Islands launching a CBDC and Vanuatu hosting Satoshi Island for the crypto community.

XRP's post-SEC lawsuit gains have been halved and its momentum is slowing down due to the lack of institutional-grade inflows into the cryptocurrency market. Retail investors were the driving force behind XRP's surge in price after the legal victory, but their involvement may not be enough to sustain a long-term uptrend. Institutional investors are needed to bring substantial funds and credibility to the cryptocurrency market.

James "MetaLawMan" Murphy, a renowned law expert, has shared his analysis of the SEC v. Ripple case on Twitter. Murphy outlined four potential paths that the SEC could take in response to the ruling, with an interlocutory appeal being the most likely option. He believes that the SEC may face political pressure to reverse the current decision swiftly, which could lead to an interlocutory appeal. Murphy also suggests that starting the appeals process sooner rather than later would benefit Ripple and XRP holders.

Hackers have taken control of attorney Jeremy Hogan's Twitter account and are promoting fake XRP giveaways, targeting the XRP community. The scammers are attempting to link the fake giveaways to Ripple's recent victory against the SEC, using Hogan's account to add legitimacy to their tweets. XRP enthusiasts have warned others of the scam and provided tips on how to report Hogan's account to stop the hackers. This is not the first time a pro-XRP lawyer has been targeted by hackers, as attorney John Deaton's account was also hacked in the past.

Altcoins have dominated the market in July 2023, with Ripple's victory over the SEC lawsuit and Bitcoin consolidating. Bitcoin's transaction volume dominance decreased by 8% in July, while altcoins like Dogecoin have gained popularity. Bitcoin's dominance across all top 25 centralized exchanges is at its lowest level since April 2023, and offshore exchanges have seen a decline in BTC trading activity due to a surge in altcoin trading volume in South Korea. Altcoin liquidity has also slightly increased since the beginning of July, with the 1% market depth for the top 10 altcoins by market cap growing by around $20 million. Dogecoin has seen a surge in trading volume and price, becoming the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

Investment products related to Bitcoin have experienced outflows for the first time since June, when Blackrock filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF, according to a report by CoinShares. Outflows of $13 million were recorded for the week ending July 21, reversing five weeks of inflows. Short Bitcoin products also saw outflows of $5.5 million in the week. Ethereum and XRP investment products, on the other hand, recorded a combined inflow of $9.2 million over the last week, with Ethereum being the best performer. Despite this, Bitcoin remains the dominant digital asset investment product, with $558 million in inflows so far in 2023 and a total of $25.0 billion in assets under management.

As the SEC's appeal against Judge Analisa Torres' ruling looms, the XRP community is witnessing significant developments within the cryptocurrency's ecosystem. The number of XRP wallets holding over 100 million tokens has surged to 199, the highest level since May 13, and whale holdings have soared to $74 million, a three-month high. XRP's trade volume has also surged, making it the dominant force in the crypto market, surpassing Bitcoin and Ethereum.

XRP's price has fallen by 8% to $0.68, underperforming the crypto market's 3.5% decline on July 24. This drop is due to growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 25 basis points in its July 25-26 meeting, which is considered bad for cryptocurrencies like XRP. Traders have rotated out of high-cap cryptos to seek shelter in safer assets like the U.S. dollar, causing XRP's price to fall. From a technical standpoint, XRP has entered an overbought correction stage and may decline towards $0.59 in July or early August.

Last week, Bitcoin investment products experienced an outflow of $13 million, while smaller cryptocurrencies like Ether and XRP saw inflows. This trend reversal came after several major catalysts for BTC investment, including BlackRock's filing for a BTC exchange traded fund, which spurred a month-long period of rapid inflows.

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, criticized the US securities regulator for its "regulation by enforcement" approach and blamed them for hurting retail investors. Garlinghouse argued that the SEC created the current situation by claiming to be the "cop on the crypto beat" without legal jurisdiction. He also called for clear rules and legislation to protect retail investors. Garlinghouse's comments came in response to the SEC's recent comments about appealing the split-decision ruling against Ripple Labs.

In a new filing for the lawsuit against Do Kwon and Terraform Labs, the US SEC has stated that the ruling on the XRP case was substantially wrong and shouldn't be taken into account. This comes after the recent court ruling that XRP trades on exchanges are not securities, which the SEC failed to prove Ripple illegally sold tokens worth over $1.4 billion. This ruling has drawn widespread attention in the market.