Largest digital asset management firm Grayscale has decreased its holdings of XRP and XLM. The reduction in XRP holdings comes as a result of SEC’s lawsuit.

Reduction of over 8.18 Million XRP

According to the data provided by crypto futures platform Bybt, Grayscale has reduced its XRP holdings by over 8.18 million. After the reduction, the digital asset manager is holding a total of 26.47 million XRP ($5.77 million). Grayscale also has reduced its holdings of Stellar Lumens by more than 9.74 million.

As per the market observers, the asset management company has dumped XRP after the Securities and Exchange Commission started a legal case against the San Francisco-based blockchain payment operator.

According to the latest report, Grayscale has assets under management worth $19.26 billion. Bitcoin comprises the major portion of the holdings as it represents 87% of the total. The asset manager has distanced itself from the fourth largest cryptocurrency due to legal scrutiny around Ripple.

However, it is not yet cleared that why Grayscale dumped XLM. The firm interest in Bitcoin is rising as it has added more BTC in holdings after a latest purchase.

The SEC opened a legal battle against Ripple for selling unregistered entity worth $1.3 billion. The legal pressure from the US regulator has made a difficult environment for Ripple company. A lot of cryptocurrency exchanges have halted the trading of the coin for their customers because SEC called XRP a security. Coinbase, KuCoin, and Bitstamp are the top-rated crypto trading platforms to halt trading services for the cryptocurrency.

U.S. District Judge Judge Analisa has requested both SEC and Ripple firm to fight case under magistrate judge to “promote judicial efficiency” and to “conserve resources.” Jake Chervinsky from the general counsel for Compound said:

“The parties in every single case are automatically asked if they want to consent to a magistrate judge. Literally every single case. The SEC won’t consent. I doubt Ripple will either. Even if they did, it wouldn’t really affect the timeline of the case.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is determined to fight the legal battle with the SEC in the court. “We will defend our company and look forward to settling this matter in court to finally get clarity for the U.S. crypto industry,” Ripple stated.

At press time, XRP is exchanging hands at $0.21. Over the weekly timeframe, the price value is down 18.55%.