The legal battle over cryptocurrency XRP is hotting up
Is XRP a security or a currency? Ripple hopes to settle the debate once and for all
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Ripple has been handed a boost in itslegal battlewith the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the sale and classification ofcryptocurrencyXRP.
A motion has been granted that will give Ripple access to internal SEC communications, which the firm hopes will reveal that XRP has previously been described in similar terms to Bitcoin and Ether, neither of which are the subject of an SEC lawsuit.
According to the presiding judge, the ruling will allow Ripple to review SEC communications “expressing the agency’s interpretation or views [on cryptocurrency]”, but the company will not be given access to emails between SEC staff members.
Mathew Solomon, a lawyer representing Ripple, claimed the ruling could represent “game over” for the plaintiff. If able to confirm the SEC has at some point regarded XRP as a non-security, Ripple could argue that the cryptocurrency should fall outside the regulator’s jurisdiction.
The multiple years it took the SEC to file the lawsuit in the first place is also expected to be a focus of the Ripple legal team when reviewing the documentation.
XRP lawsuit
The SEC filed its lawsuit against Ripple and its executives in December, blindsiding the company and sending the price of XRP tumbling. The regulator alleged that the sale of XRP to individual investors amounted to a violation of federal securities law.
“Over a years-long unregistered offering of securities, Ripple was able to raise at least $1.38 billion by selling XRP without providing the type of financial and managerial information typically provided in registration statements and subsequent periodic and current filings,” wrote the SEC.
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The case hinges on the classification of XRP as a security (i.e. a financial asset from which the investor intends to profit), as opposed to a currency or medium of exchange. By failing to file a securities registration statement or seek special exemption, Ripple violated multiple sections of the Securities Act of 1933,the official complaintcontends.
Ripple, for its part, maintains that XRP should not be classified as a security. In an official riposte published after the lawsuit was first served, the company stated that “the SEC’s theory, that XRP is an investment contract, is wrong on the facts, the law and the equities”.
With access to new evidence, Ripple will hope to put this ongoing debate to rest once and for all, and in doing so provide an important reference point for future cryptocurrency startups.
ViaCoinDesk
Joel Khalili is the News and Features Editor at TechRadar Pro, covering cybersecurity, data privacy, cloud, AI, blockchain, internet infrastructure, 5G, data storage and computing. He’s responsible for curating our news content, as well as commissioning and producing features on the technologies that are transforming the way the world does business.
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