On July 17, Gary Gensler said he was “disappointed” by a judge’s ruling that Ripple’s XRP token was not a security when sold to retail investors on exchanges.
The ruling was hailed as good news for the broader crypto industry and individual investors, but Gensler disagrees.
🚨BREAKING: @GaryGensler deal with @ Ripple First summary judgment decision since last week’s judgment:
“…disappointing what they said about private investors, but we are still watching and evaluating it.”
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) July 17, 2023
Cryptocurrency crackdown continues
But Gensler said he was “satisfied” with the decision to allow “protection of institutional investors” before adding:
“While we are disappointed with their statements regarding retail investors, we are still considering and evaluating their views.”
His speech was stuttering, and Mr. Gensler seemed at times simply at a loss for words. The fragmentary comments were made public at an event at the National Press Club on July 17.
Nevertheless, despite this loss, the battle against cryptocurrencies will continue, he added.
“We will continue to strive to bring potentially non-compliant companies into compliance without prejudice to any company and will work to ensure that public investors are protected. ”
The ruling that the sale of XRP to individual traders is not a securities transaction is good news for other crypto assets that Gensler and his crew claimed were investment contracts.
In 2020, the SEC accused Ripple of illegally raising $1.3 billion through unregistered securities sales of XRP. However, Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York ruled that XRP is not a security for secondary market sale.
He said Ripple’s algorithmic selling system for XRP on exchanges and trading platforms is not a securities offering (similar to a stock offering). Buyers “didn’t know if their payments were sent to Ripple,” she said.
XRP price outlook
XRP price surged more than 80% late last week before consolidating in the mid $0.70s territory. However, the token fell 2.5% on the day, dropping to $0.738 at the time of writing.
XRP hit its highest level since March 2022, but is still down 78% from its all-time high of $3.40 in 2018.
The ruling also boosted several other crypto assets, including Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Stellar Lumens (XLM). They are all labeled as securities by the SEC.
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