In a significant legal triumph, blockchain company Ripple secured a favorable ruling in the firm’s high stake case with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) after Judge Analisa Torres delivered the summary ruling.
In the July 13 verdict, the judge effectively dismissed the case initiated by the SEC, recognizing that the XRP token does not fall under the security classification.
“Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is GRANTED as to the Programmatic Sales, the Other Distributions, and Larsen’s and Garlinghouse’s sales, and DENIED as to the Institutional Sales,” part of the judgment read.
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At the same time, the court stated that it did not address the issue of whether secondary market sales of XRP qualify as offers and sales of investment contracts.
The court stated that this particular question was not within its scope of consideration, and the determination of whether a secondary market sale can be categorized as an offer or sale of an investment contract would require a comprehensive evaluation of the specific contract, transaction, or scheme.
In a tweet shared in July by US defense attorney James Filan, following the ruling, the court is set to “issue a separate order setting a trial date and related pre-trial deadlines in due course.”
The SEC’s lawsuit aimed to compel Ripple to cease the offering of its XRP token, asserting that it qualified as a security and thus necessitated additional regulatory measures.
Ripple CEO reacts
Following the ruling, Ripple CEO Brad Garlnghouse stated that at the onset of the lawsuit in 2020, the company was confident it was on the right side of the law.
“We said in Dec 2020 that we were on the right side of the law and will be on the right side of history. Thankful to everyone who helped us get to today’s decision – one that is for all crypto innovation in the US. More to come,” he said.
This favorable outcome for Ripple underscores the company’s contention that XRP does not possess the characteristics typically associated with securities. The ruling represents a significant development regarding the future of XRP and the general cryptocurrency market.
It is worth noting that the ruling comes as the SEC is currently embroiled in other lawsuits against crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase for listing alleged unregistered securities.
XRP explodes by 85%
Elsewhere, the value of XRP has exploded to record a multi-month-high price of above $0.8. By press time, XRP was valued at $0.87, with gains of at least 85% in the last 24 hours.
Similarly, the overall market has turned bullish after the news, with assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) holding above the $31,000 mark. Ethereum (ETH) has also reclaimed the $2,000 resistance level.
