- Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, reflects on the losses the SEC faced in the XRP case.
- Alderoty urges the SEC to avoid appealing and change its crypto regulation approach.
- The court ruled that XRP is not a security, setting a legal precedent.
- Ripple will pay the $125M fine and focus on future development.
Recently, we wrote about the court’s decision regarding Ripple and the $125 million fine, which you can read more about here.
Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, provided detailed comments on the situation, highlighting where the SEC faced significant losses on key issues.
Alderoty also suggests that the SEC should avoid appealing the decision if the current Biden-Harris administration aims to demonstrate a change in its approach to the crypto industry.
Ripple’s Legal Victory
Stuart Alderoty emphasized that the court’s decision that XRP can be considered a security, which the SEC tried to make a key argument in the case, was soundly rejected by the court.
“I think they [SEC] lost on everything that was important to them. Trying to establish that a token itself — in this case, XRP — can be considered a security was soundly rejected by the court.”
More importantly, this provides a clear point not only for Ripple but also sets a precedent for other crypto companies and the entire cryptocurrency industry other crypto companies.
Regarding whether the SEC will file an appeal to prevent this precedent, Alderoty responded:
“If the SEC is a rational actor … and if this administration truly is serious about hitting the reset button on their war on crypto, there should be no appeal, and everyone should be moving on.”
Ripple’s Future Post-Judgment
However, Ripple still needs to pay the $125 million fine, which, while less than the $1 billion and $900 million the SEC initially sought, is still substantial.
Nevertheless, this does not dampen Ripple’s plans for future development and financial stability, which they believe should now be supported by clearer and fairer regulatory frameworks.
According to Alderoty:
“That’s something that we will pay with cash off our balance sheet and look forward to moving forward.”
He also added:
“This war on crypto has really skewed the SEC’s core mission and skewed their commitment to kinda stick to their lanes in their jurisdiction. What we need as a country is to hit the reset button, and what we really should be focusing on is creating clear laws, rules, and regulations so this industry can thrive in the United States just as it is thriving outside the United States.”
Conclusion
It can be said that Ripple has indeed secured a significant victory in the XRP case, albeit at a cost.
And, of course, this victory could become a collective win for the entire crypto industry if the SEC and other decision-makers and regulators heed his words.
However, we still need to closely monitor the SEC’s response and see whether they will file an appeal, and how successful they might be in that case.
Additionally, we need to pay attention to the stance the current Biden-Harris administration will take, especially if it remains in power after the upcoming elections.
