XRP, the native token of Ripple, experienced a significant decline of over 12% on Thursday, dropping to 51 cents per coin, following the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) announcement to appeal a pivotal court ruling.
This ruling, delivered earlier this year, established that XRP is not classified as a security when sold to retail investors on exchanges, marking a major victory for the cryptocurrency industry.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Despite the favorable ruling from US District Judge Analisa Torres last summer, which concluded a lengthy three-year legal battle, the SEC’s latest move raises concerns for Ripple and the broader crypto market.
While XRP sales to retail investors are deemed compliant, the SEC still regards XRP as an unregistered security offering when sold to institutional investors.
Ripple has not publicly commented on the situation but referred to statements made by CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty on social media platform X.
Alderoty indicated that Ripple is considering a cross-appeal and expressed disappointment over the SEC’s decision, which he described as “not surprising.”
Under Chair Gary Gensler, the SEC has garnered criticism for its lack of clear regulatory guidance, often opting for enforcement actions instead.
“XRP’s status as a non-security is the law of the land today, and that does not change even in the face of this misguided—and infuriating—appeal,” Garlinghouse stated on X.
If Gensler and the SEC were rational, they would have moved on from this case long ago. It certainly hasn’t protected investors and instead has damaged the credibility and reputation of the SEC. Somehow, they still haven’t gotten the message: they lost on everything that…
In a notable development for the cryptocurrency landscape, Bitwise Asset Management recently filed for what could be the first XRP Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), just two days after registering an XRP trust product in Delaware.
Grayscale, known for its Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, launched a similar trust product in September, further signaling institutional interest in XRP.
Created by Ripple’s founders, XRP operates on the open-source XRP Ledger, which facilitates cross-border payments.
As of now, XRP stands as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC).
In related market activity, Bitcoin traded around $60,210.29, while Ether dipped over 2% to $2,320.20.
Crypto stocks such as Coinbase and MicroStrategy also faced slight declines, dropping approximately 1% and 2%, respectively.
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