Let's talk about the great legal saga that lasted longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage — the battle between Ripple and the SEC. Almost five years of federal legal cancan — and now, it seems, the end is finally near.
In the leading roles:
• Ripple — a crypto company that claims its token XRP is not a security, but just a "very lively digital dollar with character."
• The SEC — the Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency that believes that everything that moves and converts into dollars is a security. Even if it's a Christmas gift from grandma.
The drama of five years:
The SEC sued Ripple, accusing it of selling XRP as an unregistered security. Ripple, in turn, summoned its lawyers in 'Thor's hammer' mode and said:
— "It's just a token. It flies around, jumps from exchange to exchange and makes people richer. How can this be a crime?"
Legal battles, disputes, thousands of pages of legal jargon that even ChatGPT finds migraine-inducing. But now — the final act. Both sides approach Judge Analisa Torres and say:
— "Well... maybe we can settle this case amicably?"
The SEC, by the way, initially wanted to impose a $125 million fine on Ripple. Then they thought about it and said:
— "Okay, 50 is enough. Let them keep the rest. Our main priority is to look strict."
Ripple nods:
— "Agreed. And by the way, can we also remove that unpleasant label of 'criminal' from our token?"
Judge Torres in the role of Shakespeare:
Analisa Torres hasn't said her final word yet. But crypto lawyer John Deaton, who seems to read her thoughts better than any tarot reader, states:
— "I bet 70% that she will support Ripple. Because starting a new round of judicial hell — even Netflix wouldn't show that."
What does all this mean?
• For XRP: the path to institutional money is open again. Yes, Jamie Dimon, now you can pretend you haven't heard about XRP again!
• For the SEC: one less front in the war against the crypto industry.
• For us: the XRP token can perk up like caffeine at a Web3 conference.
