The End of the Legal Battle #Ripple vs. #SEC

A Precedent for the Crypto Sector.

The official conclusion of the long legal dispute between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission represents a defining milestone for the crypto asset industry, establishing a significant legal precedent. With the mutual withdrawal of appeals, confirmed by the Court of Appeals, the case comes to a close, and the technical analysis of its outcome becomes essential.

The crux of the matter lay in the application of the Howey Test, a legal framework from 1946, to determine whether the XRP token constituted a security and, therefore, would fall under the jurisdiction of the SEC. The historic court decision, which is now solidified, was not an absolute victory, but rather a crucial technical distinction:

1. Institutional Sales: Direct sales by Ripple to institutional investors were indeed considered securities transactions. The court understood that there was a clear investment contract, where buyers had an expectation of profit based on Ripple's efforts.

2. Programmatic Sales on Exchanges: Sales of XRP to retail investors in #exchanges public exchanges were not considered securities transactions. The technical logic is that the retail buyer did not have a contract with Ripple and acquired the #token without the same legal expectation that Ripple's efforts would generate their profit.

This bifurcation is the main victory for the crypto ecosystem. It creates a legal precedent that challenges the SEC's previous thesis that most tokens are, by nature, securities. Now, other projects with tokens traded in secondary markets have a legal argument to defend themselves.

With the end of the litigation, Ripple's Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, signaled a return to business focus. For the market, especially in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil where regulation is still developing, this outcome in the U.S. is a beacon.

It removes a cloud of uncertainty that hung over the #XRP .