Is that the sound of our justice system working?
If you’ve followed the crypto industry (or any mainstream media outlet) you already know the SEC just took one of the largest losses to date against Ripple (here’s the TL;DR). Ripple and XRP were just one company and cryptocurrency targeted by the recent onslaught of litigation by the SEC targeting exchanges like Coinbase, denying Bitcoins ETFs, and other assets.
With the Ripple ‘Win,’ the ‘people’ are actually pushing back against the large regulator and winning with the support of our justice system. I could be wrong, but I believe that’s how the justice system was supposed to work – one entity versus the other entity and whichever one actually aligned the most with the current laws won the case.
What is the big problem?
The SEC has been attacking an industry it clearly doesn’t understand while using the cover of “helping the retail investor” to drop the hammer. This has always been the goal of the SEC to protect the retail investor and regulate the public securities market.
That last part is kind of an issue because the crypto world is not regulated (primarily because cryptocurrency was designed to be decentralized). Since the government hasn’t figured out how to regulate this new fangled technology and asset class, the big brother SEC has stepped in. Instead of figuring out how to classify these and creating a new frame work it seems to be easier to just attempt to call them all securities, sue them all, and take a vacation on the proceeds.
That’s finally starting to change
The Ripple win was just the first step in putting the SEC in their place with Judge Torres saying retail sales of XRP were not deemed investment contracts and XRP as a cryptocurrency NOT a security. Based on the INFORMATION provided to the judge and applicable law she came to a clear conclusion that XRP does not constitute a security. The case is still going to a Jury trial for institutional sales, but the question about whether or not XRP is a security is actually… no longer a question. Judge Torres delivered a win to Ripple and the entire industry using objective information while also putting the SEC in their place.
The second win that proves the SEC has been exposed and the justice system is working was just this past week with the Grayscale v SEC.
Grayscale had the rejection of their application to convert their Bitcoin Trust to a Bitcoin ETF overturned. While Grayscale doesn’t automatically get the application approved, it forces the SEC to reexamine the application and with the Judges comments it seems the SEC needs to start actually understanding what they’re rejecting. Most say an ETF would allow retail investor indirect exposure to the volatile crypto markets through a common ‘safer’ medium; the stock exchange.
Just 3 days after the win, the SEC announced it’ll postpone decisions to approve these applications and requests 45 days to examine multiple applications including some from WisdomTree and BlackRock.
Seems like the justice system and the community are finally winning against a much larger bully with strong information and arguments.
So what’s next?
Will we see some regulation in the crypto industry? Maybe?
Will it be the SEC? Most definitely not.
Should we celebrate? 100% especially if you’re in New York and are Ripple
