US-headquartered crypto firm Ripple recently stated that it intends to keep fighting the current lawsuit with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The dustup with the regulator is emblematic of the broader challenges digital asset firms face in the US as the SEC has decided all digital assets are securities – the exception being Bitcoin.
In statements shared with CNBC, Monica Long, Ripple’s president, said that they are planning “to continue to fight the case all the way through,”
The ongoing lawsuit between Fintech firm Ripple and the SEC has now stretched for almost three years and has created a great amount of unnecessary uncertainty in the crypto space. Back in 2020, the SEC alleged that Ripple and its co-founders had intentionally violated applicable securities laws by selling $1.3B of its native virtual currency, XRP, without properly registering it as a security. It’s worth noting that many firms have accused the SEC of not reviewing their registration requests.
As covered, Ripple has continued to dispute these allegations, arguing that XRP does not qualify as a security and is more similar to a commodity.
In July of this year, a major court ruling by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres stated that the crypto token is not necessarily a security, as defined by the existing regulatory framework.
Long commented:
“We also got clarity in that lawsuit. And the judge’s order in that case said very clearly XRP in and of itself is not a security, which kind of opens the doors to us to really expand our business — not just in the U.S. but even more globally,”
In August, it was reported that the SEC would appeal the ruling.
Shortly after Judge Torres’s ruling, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, also residing in the Southern District of New York, determined that “the Court rejects the approach recently adopted by another judge of this district in a similar case.”
Ripple’s president said they will adhere to regulatory requirements, noting that in June of this year, Ripple obtained in-principle approval to provide compliant cryptocurrency services from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Long said they are “very engaged with regulators, policymakers, and it’s just a part of our DNA.” They just need clarity on the rules, something that Congress and the SEC have struggled to provide.