Ripple v. SEC
In December 2020, Ripple was accused by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of issuing XRP in contravention of securities laws, leading to a $1.3B lawsuit against the company and management, including CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chairman Chris Larsen.
With such allegations, since 2020, there had been many Crypto exchanges delisting XRP, causing XRP price to plummet to $0.2 threshold by the end of 2020.
Even so, despite going through a bull market in 2021 and a bear market in 2022, this case has not come to an end.
Partial win for Ripple
On July 13, U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres of New York ruled that Ripple did not violate federal securities laws by selling XRP on exchanges, but the sales were illegal.
Currently, SEC has appealed this decision, and it will probably take a while before we reach a final verdict.
Market Comment
Although the verdict only stops at the level of evaluating XRP offering in terms of securities, it does not really rule whether XRP is a security or not, but this can also be considered a “turning point” for the Crypto industry.
The Crypto market has had one of the strongest growth phases in 2023, since the bankruptcy of SIVB.
A series of major exchanges have relisted XRP trading on their platforms, demonstrating that the legal risks for XRP in particular as well as other Crypto assets in general have been minimized.
The lawsuit between Ripple v. SEC is a huge event for the Crypto industry. Ripple’s victory could usher in a clearer regulation for the entire industry, enough to attract other major inflows from the traditional financial markets.
