Ripple awaiting XRP enforcement action

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is gearing up to take enforcement action against Ripple and its digital asset XRP.

Ripple has long faced allegations that XRP – the foundationaly cryptocurrency used to grease the wheels of it blokchcain-based remittance network – is in fact a security owned and controlled by the firm.

With cryptocurrencies riding a wave of interest from institutional investors, XRP witnessed a 152% market cap increase this year, with the figure growing from $9.4bn in December 2019 to $23.7bn this week.

Ripple is currently in a legal battle with investors who say it is selling unregistered securities and making misleading statements about XRP.

If XRP is labelled a security, it would be subject to strict rules that would impact Ripple, which still owns more than half of all the cryptocurrency.

Ripple has pre-empted the SEC enforcement action with a string of rebuttals on its website and twitter, amid hints that it is prepared to move its business to a more amenable country such as the UK or Japan, where the FSA has already ruled on XRP’s status as a cryptocurrency.

The firm contends the SEC’s theory, that XRP is an investment contract, “is wrong on the facts, the law and the equities.

“To prove its case amounts to an unprecedented and ill-conceived expansion of the Howey test and the SEC’s enforcement authority against digital assets.”

Ripple points out that since 2017, around 90% of its XRP holdings have been held in an inaccessible escrow, which cannot be unilaterally terminated. The escrow is intended to standardize the supply of XRP that could come from Ripple, even during times when the price andvolumes of XRP have increased.

Ripple chief Brad garlinghouse contends that departing SEC chairman Jay Clayton is “taking notes from the Grinch this holiday season”.

Today, the SEC voted to attack crypto. Chairman Jay Clayton – in his final act – is picking winners and trying to limit US innovation in the crypto industry to BTC and ETH. (1/3) https://t.co/r9bgT9Pcuu

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) December 22, 2020

The SEC – out of step with other G20 countries & the rest of the US govt – should not be able to cherry-pick what innovation looks like (especially when their decision directly benefits China). Make no mistake, we are ready to fight and win – this battle is just beginning. (3/3)

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) December 22, 2020

Whatever the outcome, the spat is likely to put downward pressure on XRP as investors cash out their holdings in favour of less contentious assets.