Pharmaceutical distributor Wellgistics has revealed its plan to include XRP as an instant payment system and treasury management tool. This move makes the company one of the first publicly traded entities to adopt this approach.
Wellgistics Adopts XRP to Slash Settlement Times from Days to Seconds
In its official statement, the Florida-based company stated that it would use XRP and its blockchain network to reduce settlement fees and boost remittance speeds for suppliers, manufacturers, and pharmacies.
Besides transparency issues and geographical limitations, it usually takes three days for standard wire transfers to be completed. Hence, the company aims to make these transactions cheaper and complete them within seconds, not days, using XRP.
At the time of writing, XRP transaction fees are not up to a cent, and it takes 3 to 5 seconds for transactions to be completed. According to the company’s announcement, Wellgistics will fund its XRP treasury reserve plans and integration using a $50 million equity line of credit.
The company plans to also use this financial backing to support real-time payment models and innovation in smart liquidity for the healthcare industry. In his remarks, Wellgistics chief executive Brian Norton said the long-term winners in the healthcare industry will be those with the most efficient platforms, fastest rails, and cleanest data.
SEC Commissioner Publicly Blasts U.S. SEC Settlement in Ripple Case
Following a court filing this week, SEC commissioner Caroline Crenshaw has publicly condemned the regulator’s latest agreement with Ripple and its two executives. The agreement could finally end the 5-year-old law enforcement case.
Based on the available document, the U.S. SEC and Ripple want the court to dismiss the court judgment from last August and release the $125 million financial penalty currently in escrow. Out of this amount, Ripple will receive $75 million, while the SEC will receive the remaining amount.
Should the court approve, the two entities will withdraw their appeals. The SEC explained that the agreement represents an enforcement change and not that the legal case was invalid.
In her remarks, Crenshaw stated that the settlement is a complete betrayal of investor protection provisions by the SEC. She added that it represents a systematic dismantling of the regulator’s crypto enforcement framework.
She also said the settlement weakens the judiciary’s role in interpreting the nation’s securities regulations, which is part of its critical function. Even though her term officially ended in June 2024, Crenshaw still serves as the regulator’s commissioner.
In 2020, President Donald Trump appointed her to one of the two democratic seats of a 5-member bipartisan commission. Following her tough stance on crypto, the Senate blocked Crenshaw’s recent renomination, and a vote to reappoint her was canceled last December.
However, if Crenshaw does not have a successor, she can remain in this position for up to 18 months after the term expires, based on the current SEC rules. Hence, it is likely that she will leave this role by December 2025.
Ripple vs. SEC: Key Rulings, Appeals, and the $125 Million Fine
The Ripple-SEC case started in 2020 when the SEC claimed that Ripple raised $1.3 billion by selling XRP tokens without being registered as a security. Three years later, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple didn’t violate any securities laws because it used a blind bid process for these sales.
However, the judge added that the direct sales of XRP to institutional investors through investment contracts can be classified as unregistered securities offerings. Hence, she ruled that Ripple should pay a $125 million fine.
After the ruling, both entities appealed the court’s decision.
XRP On-Chain Activity Surges 200%, Price Breaks Key Resistance
Meanwhile, a sharp rise in XRP’s on-chain activity suggests that the cryptocurrency has entered an important breakout phase. On-chain data shows that XRP transactions rose to more than 824 million XRP earlier this week.
This increase is more than 200% of the average XRP transactions over the past 30 days. This type of spike usually suggests more institutional accumulation of the coin.
The XRP price chart also confirmed this bullish sentiment. The daily timeframe shows that XRP has broken out of a descending triangle pattern, which it has been in since the first quarter of this year.