XRP ruling a ‘watershed moment’ but we’re not out of the woods yet — Lawyers

Ripple Labs’ split-decision victory against the United States securities regulator is being seen as a significant blow to the regulator’s “war on crypto,” however, crypto lawyers warn it isn’t a definitive victory for the industry or the firm y

In a landmark ruling on July 13, Judge Torres determined that XRP (XRP) is not a security — at least when sold to the general public.

The decision was met with a joyous uproar from XRP token holders and came with a massive surge in the token’s price, with industry heavyweights lauding the decision as likely to aid crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance in their respective lawsuits.

Luke Martin, the founder of crypto investment firm Venture Coinist noted that the “core component” of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) claim in its suits against Binance and Coinbase is that they offered the sale of unregistered securities on their platforms.

After losing on this matter in the case of XRP, Martin believes this will serve as a substantial blow to the SEC and its chair, Gary Gensler.

He called the decision “inconceivably bullish” for the industry:

This Ripple news is larger than XRP…

Remember when the SEC went on an all-out attack versus crypto a few months ago?

•Suing Binance for breaking securities rules
•Suing Coinbase for breaking securities rules
•Targeting 10-15 large altcoins as securities

Classifying tokens…

— Luke Martin (@VentureCoinist) July 13, 2023

Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton shared a similar sentiment, stating that Coinbase was the other “winner” from the ruling and that altcoins would stand to benefit.

Similarly, Tyler Winklevoss, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, said the ruling “decimates” the SEC’s case against Coinbase. His twin brother, Cameron Winklevoss referred to the ruling as a “watershed moment” that will make it difficult for the SEC to claim authority over cryptocurrencies.

The Ripple ruling today decimates the @SECGov‘s case against @coinbase. Have fun with that one @GaryGensler. https://t.co/2lfFXxX2Xf

— Tyler Winklevoss (@tyler) July 13, 2023

Coinbase, Kraken and iTrustShares have already relisted XRP on their respective platforms following the decision.

Words of caution

Despite the positive outcome for XRP, several digital asset lawyers warned against celebrating too soon.

Law firm partner Stephen Palley of Brown Rudnick noted that the summary judgement is only “partial” and that the ruling by Judge Torres isn’t…