Gary Gensler, Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recently expressed his displeasure with a court ruling related to the XRP token, as reported by Bloomberg on July 17.
Gensler said he is “disappointed” by Judge Analisa Torres’ statement that sales of XRP tokens on retail exchanges were not securities offerings. The judge ruled on July 13 that programmatic sales and free giveaways of XRP were not securities.
Conversely, Gensler said he is pleased with the judge’s ruling on Ripple’s sale of the XRP token to institutional investors. Judge Torres ruled that, unlike retail, Ripple’s institutional sales were unregistered securities offerings. The company offered the asset directly to those investors through written contracts.
Gensler also suggested that his agency is reviewing the outcome of the case, as he stated that the SEC is “still looking at it and reviewing that opinion.”
He also made it clear that the SEC will work with other companies. He said:
“We will continue to try to force companies that may not be in compliance with the law – without pre-empting any of them – and try to make sure we protect the investing public.”
According to the latest Bloomberg report, Gensler made the above statements at a National Press Club event.
XRP benefited from the outcome of the case
The SEC originally sued Ripple in 2020, when it alleged that the company broke the rules by selling XRP without undergoing a securities registration. Ripple chose not to settle with the SEC and instead opted to fight the agency in court.
Following the favorable judgment for Ripple, the XRP token has seen a significant uptick. In the week ending July 17, XRP posted a gain of more than 50%, cementing its position as the fourth-largest asset by market capitalization.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has also made positive statements about the outcome, while at least one exchange – Coinbase – has decided to offer XRP again.
However, Ripple’s legal challenges may not be fully resolved, with some speculation that the SEC will take further legal action despite the recent setback. According to former SEC member John Reed Stark, there is a possibility that the latest decision could be reversed.
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