XRP News Today: Will Ripple’s APAC Expansion Offset SEC Legal Hurdles?

Garlinghouse added,

“An XRP transaction and the payment flow for us is really real-time. It’s instant, it’s cross border, and the really powerful thing for a lot of our customers is they don’t have to pre-fund accounts. Our customers are financial institutions. The way SWIFT works, you’re pre-funding. You have dormant capital sitting in other banks around the world. Using XRP, using Ripplenet, our payments network, you don’t have to pre-fund.”

As Ripple continues to expand internationally, the SEC v Ripple case remains a critical issue.

SEC vs. Ripple and the Programmatic Sales of XRP Ruling

There were no SEC vs. Ripple case-related updates to influence buyer demand for XRP. Nevertheless, uncertainty about the final verdict in the Ripple case and SEC plans to appeal the Programmatic Sales of XRP ruling remained XRP headwinds.

In March, the SEC filed with the courts its remedies-related opening brief. The SEC offered the court arguments for a punitive penalty and an injunction prohibiting XRP sales to institutional investors. An injunction would impact plans to expand the US business after the Programmatic Sales of XRP ruling.

The verdict could hinge on whether the US courts consider post-complaint transactions breaches of US securities laws. Ripple filed its remedies-related opposition brief in April, stating that post-complaint XRP transactions were to accredited investors or through ODL agreements. According to the opposition brief, ODL agreements prevent profits or losses.

Based on post-complaint compliance, Ripple proposed a $10 million penalty for breaching US securities laws when considering there were no claims of fraud or recklessness.

After the verdict, investors expect the SEC to appeal the Programmatic Sales of XRP ruling. In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that programmatic sales of XRP do not satisfy the third prong of the Howey Test.

There is speculation that the SEC would disapprove XRP-spot ETFs until the end of the appeals process.