There has been no end to the debate surrounding whether XRP is a security or not within the crypto community, regardless of a ruling from the U.S. court system. In July, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security when traded in secondary markets.
Yet the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) still appeals some points of the case but has not contested the current XRP asset designation.It was also recently reignited when the SEC filed its ongoing lawsuit against XRP Labs and its central selling asset what is now considered an unregulated security, XRP using its filing of Form C.
To clear up the confusion, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to discuss. Alderoty compared XRP to a Taylor Swift concert ticket using a clever analogy.
Ripple’s Legal Battle Continues
In his post, Alderoty shared two images: There’s one with a Taylor Swift ‘Eras Tour’ ticket under there, and the other just a big bold ‘XRP IS NOT A SECURTY.’ He also explained that just as reselling a concert ticket does not make it a security, trading Ripple on the secondary market turns it into a security neither.
He noted “not every market is a securities market” suggesting cryptocurrency trading does not need to legally fall into securities regulation. Other Twitter personalities, like Coinbase’s CLO Paul Grewal chimed in on Alderoty’s post, which saw massive engagement on X.
Taylor Swift does not actively promote secondary market ticket sales, which is to say, just like securities, regulatory argument hinged on their dependence on other people’s promotion or interests to benefit users, many users observed. Knowing that it’s been battling in the courts, Ripple is still an essential piece of the ripple Labs’s ecosystem since it serves as a bridge currency between cross border settlements.
Even as XRP’s future remains unresolved, pending an appeal by the SEC, the ongoing uncertainty has seeded its price fluctuations. Ripple, which was valued at $0.5469 at the time of writing, is down by 0.6% according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Led by Alderoty, Ripple’s legal team announced in coming days it will submit a formal response to the SEC’s appeal. The longer the lawsuit drags on, the more likely the digital asset is to remain volatile in the market and leave investors waiting for a resolution.
