The Ripple vs. SEC case has been dragging on for the past two years and has now entered its third year. The whole crypto market is eagerly waiting for the end of this battle. Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, hopes that there will be some clarity for crypto assets this year.
Over two years have passed since Ripple faced the lawsuit filing by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC sued Ripple Labs Inc. at the end of 2020 for marketing XRP tokens on its platform, stating that it falls under unregistered securities. The Ripple CEO expects the case will end this year, and that the result will have a significant impact on the crypto industry.
If the SEC wins the lawsuit against Ripple, XRP will be considered security rather than currency in the US. The same theory will be applied to other similar cryptocurrencies in the nation. So the judgment will play a vital role for digital asset shareholders, investors and crypto developers.
In a recent Bloomberg(dot)com interview, Ripple CEO said that if the court rules in favor of the SEC, the crypto industry would have to face the outcomes. In the previous month, the SEC meddled in the crypto sector, which affected the market price and retail investors. According to Garlinghouse, the thought of the SEC regulating the US crypto industry is unhealthy.
“The macro headline for me is this is not a healthy way to regulate an industry. Regulation through enforcement as opposed to what we are seeing in other countries where they are doing the work they are codifying, they are creating a framework that allows an industry to grow while protecting consumers,” he said.
Garlinghouse further said that the US regulators are missing clarity on the crypto market, which will affect the economy. Recently a new whitepaper from the US Faster Payments Council and Ripple noted that around 97% of industry leaders across various sectors believe in crypto and blockchain to speed up payment methods.
Earlier in January, Ripple released its Q4 2022 XRP markets report, where it experienced $226.31 million in XRP sales which was comparatively low compared to the previous quarter with $310.68 million. The firm experienced a slight downtrend through average daily volumes (ADVs), currently at around $700 million, down from $1.1 billion in Q1 2022.
At the start of the weekend, XRP gained a grain streak which fell to its lowest point since January and rebounded back on Saturday by 2%. Meanwhile, at press time, the XRP is trading at $0.373, down by 0.71% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap(dot)com.
Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.
