In a significant legal development, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been denied its bid to appeal allegations of unlawful securities sales against Ripple, a blockchain technology company associated with the cryptocurrency XRP. District Court Judge Analisa Torres handed down this decision, as tweeted by Santiment, a reputable cryptocurrency data and insights provider.
This news triggered an immediate 8% surge in XRP’s price, reaffirming its status as a prominent player among the top 100 digital assets. Judge Torres has scheduled a trial on April 23 2024 to address remaining matters, in the case.
🥳 In another big ruling for @Ripple, the #SEC's appeal on its accusation of the company's alleged unlawful sales of securities, has been denied. $XRP immediately saw a +8% rise, and is currently making up almost a quarter of top 100 asset discussions. https://t.co/iJbdqVhFEj pic.twitter.com/IGPKegaacF
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) October 3, 2023
SEC initially launched an action against Ripple, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen in December of 2020. This legal action had far-reaching consequences, leading several cryptocurrency exchanges to delist the XRP token to mitigate potential regulatory risks.
In a noteworthy development, Judge Torres ruled in July that XRP’s retail sales did not meet the legal criteria for a security. However, the court found that Ripple had violated securities laws by directly selling XRP tokens to institutional investors.
Following this ruling, the SEC sought to appeal, citing substantial differences of opinion regarding applicable laws. While the recent decision rejected the SEC’s appeal, the agency retains the option to pursue the broader case in the future.
This legal dispute has become a topic, in the discussion about how to classify and regulate cryptocurrencies.In recent months, the SEC has been closely scrutinizing cryptocurrency companies such as Binance and Coinbase, accusing them of securities regulations violations.
XRP’s immediate 8% price surge following the ruling underscores the market’s reaction to this significant legal development. Currently trading at $0.531764, with a 24-hour trading volume of $1.7B, and a market capitalization of $28.3B, XRP maintains its prominence in the cryptocurrency market. The trial scheduled for April 2024 holds the potential to reshape the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies in the United States.
