Ripple Labs secured a victory in its legal battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 13. Judge Analisa Torres of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of Ripple Labs, stating that XRP tokens are not securities and can be traded programmatically on digital asset exchanges. The ruling marks progress for Ripple in the case that was initially filed by the SEC in 2020.
While the judge ruled in favor of Ripple regarding programmatic sales and other distributions, she also sided with the SEC on another aspect. The judge stated that XRP can be considered a security when sold to institutional investors, as it meets the conditions outlined in the howey test. The SEC's lawsuit against Ripple aims to halt the offering of XRP tokens, arguing that they should be subject to additional regulation as securities.
Following the court ruling, the price of XRP experienced a significant surge. Within minutes of the news, the token's price jumped from $0.45 to $0.61, representing a more than 25% increase. The legal case against Ripple has been ongoing since December 2 020, when The SEC filed a lawsuit against the company and its CEOs, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, alleging the sale of unregistered securities.
Throughout the legal proceedings, various dramatic events unfolded, including the release of the "Hinman Papers" and continued contempt charges against Brad Garlinghouse from the SEC. The positive movement of the XRP token following the court ruling has generated a sense of jubilation within the crypto community.
