Ripple wins lawsuit against the SEC!

In the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Ripple, the court rules that XRP is not a security, which could have far-reaching implications for the entire crypto industry. Ripple Labs scored a major victory in the Southern District Court of New York on July 13, as Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of the XRP issuer in the crypto company’s high-profile lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In court documents, , it states thus:
“Defendants’ Motion for Judgment is GRANTED, including as to related sales and distributions [of XRP] by Defendant and by Larsen and Garlinghouse, but NOT as to institutional sales.”
This means that the ruling is a fundamental boost to the digital asset sector, especially for trading on exchanges and brokers. However, this ruling needs to be put into perspective, as insitutional investors were “excluded” from this ruling and it only applies to private purchases and sales of XRP.

As expected, the remaining American crypto exchanges and crypto service providers are now reacting by resuming XRP trading, including Coinbase, Kraken and iTrustCapital. In the case of Coinbase, this is particularly interesting, as the platform is currently still in its own legal battle with the SEC regarding alleged unlawful trading of securities.
Meanwhile, Gemini, the exchange run by the Winklevoss twins, is likewise eyeing a relaunch of XRP.

The SEC seems willing to look into BlackRock’s ETF application, though a full review is pending for now. The confirmation of the SEC means, as it were, the official start of the review process for BlackRock’s ETF application. While this is only the first step in a lengthy regulatory process, it nonetheless signals the SEC’s willingness to look at a direct ETF for Bitcoin and evaluate the potential impact on the market. BlackRock’s entry into the race for the first direct bitcoin ETF is highly significant due to the influential asset manager’s standing in the financial industry. The application for the direct ETF included a “joint oversight” agreement with crypto exchange Coinbase.
ETFs are mutual funds that typically track certain indices and are usually traded on exchanges. In the cryptocurrency space, a fund that reflects the value of one or more digital tokens and includes a variety of cryptocurrencies is appropriately referred to as a crypto ETF. However, a fundamental distinction must be made between a futures ETF and a spot ETF, because while the former only indirectly reflect the price of a cryptocurrency on the basis of the associated futures trade, the latter are directly oriented to the price of the respective cryptocurrency.
BlackRock’s entry into the race for the first direct bitcoin ETF is highly significant due to the influential asset manager’s reputation in the financial industry. The application for the direct ETF included a “joint oversight” agreement with crypto exchange Coinbase.

The competition between companies vying to be the first to launch a bitcoin ETF in the U.S. is seen by many as a positive development for the crypto industry. With multiple applications, the chances of success increase, and the SEC can evaluate different strategies and concerns based on different proposals.