SEC vs Ripple: Judge Rules XRP Sold on Exchanges Is Not a Security

A U.S. District Judge ruled that XRP sold programmatically, or through trading algorithms, did not constitute investment contracts.

A legal battle between XRP issuer Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached an interesting juncture on Thursday, with the court ruling partially in favor of the crypto firm.

In a July 13 ruling in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that the sale of XRP tokens on exchanges could not be classified as a securities offering, and as such, did not violate securities laws.

However, the ruling also stated that the sale of XRP tokens to institutions met the conditions set forth in the Howey Test, and would be considered an unregistered securities offering in that instance.

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.

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) July 13, 2023

The price of XRP rose sharply after news of the ruling was made public, with the token gaining 74% in the last 24 hours. Major exchanges, including Coinbase which delisted XRP following the SEC’s lawsuit in December 2020, said they would re-list the token for trading on the platform.

W.

W for @ripple.
W for the industry.
W for the builders.
W for a clear rulebook.
W for updating the system.

Oh, and XRP is now open for trading.

— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) July 13, 2023

Some industry watchers also perceived the ruling as one that had broader implications for digital asset regulations, and existing enforcement actions from the securities regulator centred around alleged unregistered securities offerings.

“Overall a huge win. XRP is one of the more centralized foundations, with a key figure head, who had standard sales via exchanges, and formal distribution programs. If those aren’t securities, nearly nothing sold via exchanges is,” tweeted Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures.