When the giants of the financial world of cryptocurrencies stand against major regulatory institutions, the entire market holds its breath. In the latest development in the case concerning Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it seems that the cryptocurrency firm is gaining an upper hand, which positively affected the price of their digital currency, XRP.
On Thursday, October 19th, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) exonerated Ripple’s management – CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen – from all charges in the lawsuit. This marks the third significant victory for Garlinghouse and his team since the initial court decision in July 2023.
The SEC had accused Larsen and Garlinghouse of misleading investors about XRP, selling digital coins worth over a billion dollars without proper registration. In July, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres found that XRP qualifies as a security when sold directly to institutions, but not when it’s available to the public on cryptocurrency exchanges.
That same month, Torres rejected the SEC’s request for an expedited appeal of her verdict. The Ripple case posed a serious challenge for the SEC, which believes that most digital tokens are securities. However, many participants in the cryptocurrency market have challenged the SEC’s decisions regarding crypto-securities.
Responding to the latest events, Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, stated that for nearly three years, he and Chris were the subjects of baseless accusations from a dishonest regulator with a political agenda. Instead of pursuing criminals who were stealing customer funds on foreign exchanges, the SEC attacked the ‘good guys’ building a regulated business in the U.S.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, Elliott Stein, commented on the SEC’s recent decision, indicating that it gives the agency the opportunity to accelerate appeals in parts of the case it lost, rather than continuing the lawsuit against individuals.
Following this decision, the price of XRP increased by 8%, exceeding the $0.51 level. Investors will undoubtedly be watching closely to see if the price of XRP continues its rise, approaching $1.
Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash
