XRP Scores Courtroom Victory Against SEC, Cryptoverse Explodes

The firestorm was first kindled when an obscure crypto intelligence firm called Arkham tweeted that it was opening an intelligence exchange where people could post bounties to incentivize blockchain analysts to identify the people or companies behind any wallet or transaction.

Crypto Twitter went veritably ape and lambasted the idea. 

Decrypt covered the funniest responses that day. Needless to say, Arkham CEO Miguel Morel was keen to clear the air. He sat down with us later in the week over a Telegram call and assured us that his model wasn’t a “dox-to-earn” program and that any harmful uses would not be allowed.

Although the case is most certainly not closed, the real hot topic of the week was Ripple’s courtroom victory against the SEC. A judge ruled that the sale of XRP tokens to the public was not a violation of securities laws—something that the industry long maintained. 

Before we get onto that, however, let’s take a look at some of the other big tweets this week.

Crypto Twitter Reacts to Arkham’s New ‘Dox-to-Earn’ Intelligence Exchange

On Monday, Will Clemente, the founder of blockchain research firm Reflevity, pointed out a strange convergence of two important crypto milestones next year. 

Another day, another bust for blockchain gumshoe ZachXBT. This time he was following the trail of a phishing scammer who used his purloined funds on luxury items, including a pretty loud Rolex watch, shamelessly posting pics on social media. 

Bloomberg’s James Seyffart on Tuesday shared a subtle but significant amendment to the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s refiled Bitcoin ETF applications. Looks like Coinbase is everyone’s go-to partner for the “surveillance-sharing agreement” (SSA) side of the application. BlackRock and Valkyrie both did the same last week in their respective applications.

The SEC wants to see SSAs in the ETF applications because they deter fraud and manipulation by outlining how applicants will monitor market trading activity and clearing activity and verify customer identity.

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Crypto lawyer Lewis Cohen on Wednesday tweeted a small thread about why he’s excited for a new version of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act. In a later tweet, he even suggested the U.S. still has a chance to “set the standard” in crypto legislation and outdo the European Union’s recently passed MiCA framework. 

Another crypto lawyer, Marisa Tashman Coppel—senior counsel at pro-crypto policy lobbying group The Blockchain Association—has many questions for the SEC about Prometheum, a crypto company that suddenly appeared on the scene and has been conveniently touted as an upstanding and compliant firm by the commission.

Republican congressman Richie Torres called for an investigation into Prometheum the following day.

Things went from bad to worse for the Multichain cross-chain bridge this week. The protocol has had some transactions frozen since May. In its latest announcement, it says it has shuttered operations as its CEO and his sister are in the custody of Chinese police, the team’s operational funds have been impounded, and over $200 million in customer funds is up in the air. Ouch!

Crypto Twitter basks in Ripple’s victory

FOX business journalist Eleanor Terrett was one of the first to break the major news on Thursday that a judge ruled that XRP “is not necessarily a security on its face” and programmatic sales of XRP to the public did not break securities laws. 

It’s party time, said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

Lawyer Stephen Palley pointed out that some institutional sales of XRP ($728 million worth) did qualify as securities offerings. Later in the thread he described the event as “more of a win” than he was expecting. 

Crypto fan and streamer RookieXBT saw the ruling as a historic milestone. 

Andrew Kang, co-founder of crypto venture firm Mechanism Capital, said the news was a win for Ethereum too. 

Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss was overjoyed. He trash-talked the SEC back into the Mesozoic era, where it belongs—according to him. Threat neutralized.

Eleanor Terrett shared the SEC’s response, which reads like Gary Gensler smiling through gritted teeth. 

Finally, CoinGecko wanted you to know that XRP flipped BNB on Thursday. It’s no longer the case now though. 

What a week!