Ripple’s chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty says the SEC’s latest crypto guidance does more than clarify policy. In his reading, it effectively cements what Ripple has argued for years: XRP is not a security, but a digital commodity.
Ripple’s Top Lawyer ReactsAlderoty quickly tied that announcement to Ripple’s long-running legal fight with the agency, writing via X: “We always knew XRP wasn’t a security – and now the SEC has made clear what it is: a digital commodity. Grateful to the Crypto Task Force for working to deliver the clarity that markets, investors, and innovators have long deserved.”
That framing matters because it pushes the conversation beyond the narrower question of whether XRP sales can fall within securities laws in certain contexts. Alderoty’s post suggests Ripple sees the SEC’s latest interpretation as broader validation of the company’s core position: that XRP itself should be treated as a commodity-style crypto asset rather than a security instrument.
Notably, the Commission’s new guidance defines how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets. Even so, the market reaction around XRP was immediate, with several legal commentators and crypto experts reading the move as a meaningful shift in the regulatory ground beneath the asset.
Luke Martin pushed the bullish interpretation further, arguing that “If XRP isn’t a security, nothing is a security. Unfathomably bullish.”
At press time, XRP traded at $1.52.
