Payment systems provider to financial institutions, Ripple, has won a legal dispute against the SEC (the U.S. SEC) where the capital market regulator claimed that the company's native token, called XRP, was a security.
The decision sets a precedent for a series of other cryptocurrencies to potentially escape the SEC's scrutiny.
A judge in New York stated that the trading of XRP on exchanges should not be regarded as an offer and sale of investment contracts.
Ripple Labs' victory against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, caused its native token XRP to surge and become the 4th largest cryptocurrency in the market, surpassing BINANCE Coin (BNB) from Binance.
On Thursday (July 13), U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres of New York ruled that the trading of XRP on cryptocurrency exchanges should not be considered as an offer and sale of investment contracts, as alleged by the SEC in a lawsuit that has been ongoing since 2020.
Since the regulator issued an opinion against trading the token within the lawsuit, several exchanges have removed the cryptocurrency from their platforms.
After the favorable decision, XRP surged by 70% in 24 hours, trading at $0.79 on the morning of Friday (July 14).
The market value of the digital asset reached $41.4 billion around 7:40 am today, surpassing the $39.9 billion of BNB, which is currently trading at $254, up 3.10% at the time of this writing.
"A big win today.
By law, XRP is not a security. Also by law, sales on exchanges are not securities," said Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's General Counsel, yesterday on Twitter.
Last night, Bitcoin (BTC), the leading cryptocurrency in the industry, reached $31,716, its highest price in a year, according to the CoinMarketCap aggregator.
On the morning of Friday, it is trading up 1.70% at $31,151. Ethereum (ETH) surged by 6.03% to $1,990, and Cardano (ADA) rose by 21.10% to $0.34. Smaller cryptocurrencies also experienced gains, with Stellar (XLM) skyrocketing by 55.50% to $0.15, and Solana (SOL) rising by 5% to $28.
"My overall impression is that this is a positive decision for the digital asset industry," said David Tramel Stabile, a partner at the crypto-focused law firm Winston & Strawn in Miami, in an interview with Bloomberg.
"The critical component of the decision is the conclusion that XRP purchases on the secondary market do not constitute the purchase of securities since buyers could not know that their money went to Ripple or someone else," he added.
