The seismic legal confrontation between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple has inadvertently resulted in a hitch in the XRP token’s momentum, hindering its evolution over the last three years, according to crypto lawyer John E Deaton. This perspective comes in the wake of Coinbase‘s announcement of its minority stake purchase in USD Coin issuer Circle – an enterprise aimed at swaying the USDC ecosystem.
In his commentary, Deaton opined that Ripple and XRP were well-positioned for increased uptake in cross-border payment systems. If not for the gnawing SEC lawsuit, mass-market platforms such as Coinbase could have revealed comparable interest in Ripple. It is worth noting that Coinbase was amongst XRP’s chief advocators before the SEC’s legal action impelled the crypto exchange’s hand to ax the virtual currency from its listing.
Deaton clarified that Coinbase diligently examined the SEC’s regulatory preferences for XRP before electing to enlist it. In January 2019, Coinbase presented its XRP evaluation to the SEC, factoring in its comprehensive regulatory mandate for digital assets. Astonishingly, the SEC offered no resistance to Coinbase’s proposition, triggering XRP to feature in the crypto exchange’s listing by February 2019.
In a like manner, MoneyGram, a significant Ripple remittance collaborator, submitted its blueprint for XRP usage to the SEC, receiving no confrontation from the entity. Paradoxically, in spite of the precautions taken by Ripple associates, the SEC elected to bring havoc on Ripple with a lawsuit in December 2020.
In concluding his post-mortem analysis of the events, Deaton suggested that Ripple’s lawsuit had been callously employed as a tool. He emphasized that events over the past three years substantiated his view. Regardless of Ripple’s ongoing triumphant streak beyond the U.S. borders, the lawsuit undoubtedly dealt a blow to XRP’s integration. It is significant to note that, recently, Judge Analisa Torres of the New York District Court presented a partial ruling in favor of Ripple Labs, asserting that XRP sales on digital assets exchanges were not securities.
Despite the intense scrutiny of the use of virtual currencies like XRP, the lens of the ongoing Ripple case has done little to abate the appetite of the crypto world for such tokens. There’s a glimmer of hope in the ruling of the district judge, but the danger posed by litigious forays is a stark reminder of the regulatory hurdles the crypto landscape is yet to overcome.
Source: Cointelegraph
