With the recent ruling in favor of Ripple by Judge Torres, eyebrows have been raised amongst many stakeholders within the cryptocurrency industry. The verdict declared that Ripple’s XRP token was a security when offered to institutional investors, but not during unwrapped public sales or ‘programmatic sales’.
Meanwhile, notable voices cast aspersions over the likelihood of an immediate appeal from the United States securities regulator against the Ripple case ruling. Haun Ventures CEO, Katie Haun, opined that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enjoys benefits from the current ambiguity surrounding the legal status of digital assets, essentially implying that lack of clarity pays dividends in flexibility.
Conversely, dissenters of the recent ruling, like former Securities and Exchange Commission official John Reed Stark, condemn the decision as discriminatory. Stark accuses the verdict of creating a new class of assets that can switch identities from securities to non-securities depending on the sophistication of the investor buying the token. Stark asserts that such a verdict undermines the principle of investor protection, which maintains that the level of protection accorded to an investor should not waver due to the type of purchase related to the asset. Stark suggests that the decision resides on shaky ground and may be ripe for an appeal which could result in a reversal.
Notably, CEO Brad Garlinghouse of Ripple anticipates a prolonged system before the SEC can lodge an appeal. He further argued that an appeal by the SEC against the retail sale ruling would reinforce Judge Torres’s decision rather than undermine it.
Amidst this broad climate of ambivalence and disagreement, there erupts a unified call for actions to be taken by Congress. It is stressed that Congress should step in to shed light on crypto regulation, ultimately to reduce potential confusion in the enforcement of digital asset laws. Yet as things stand, it appears that the future of digital asset regulation remains nebulous and the ripple effects of the Ripple case could have wider implications on the crypto industry in years to come.
Source: Cointelegraph
