Key Takeaways
- A new Fox Business scope says an expected White House report could classify XRP as a security.
- XRP supporters have raised doubt as to whether such an order could affect the court case.
- Ripple continues to show resilience in the legal brawl with the SEC.
Ripple Labs has been tied up in a legal brawl with the SEC which seems to be having the upper hand. Ripple has been scoring several small wins in the case that could help it contend that contrary to the SEC’s claims, its XRP cryptocurrency is not a security. Regardless, all this may be undone by a pending White House report in the coming months.
Fox Business’ journalists, Charles Gasparino, and Eleanor Terrett, in a recent tweet, have revealed that their sources close to the SEC’s case against Ripple believe that the pending White House report on crypto could classify XRP as a security. These sources opined that the SEC may be stalling the case to stretch it into the summer of this year when the White House crypto report is expected.
While details of this report are unknown, the crypto market is anticipating an executive order from the White House this month. Last month, the Biden-led government revealed plans to pass an executive order on crypto as “a matter of national security.”
XRP proponents react to the speculation
The new development has been met with doubt by the XRP community. Members of the community, who have been actively following the case, have questioned how possible it would be for an executive order to override an ongoing judicial case. XRP supporter and YouTuber, Mickey B Fresh, stated that due to checks and balances of the three arms of government, an executive ruling was not likely to have an impact on the court case.
Twitter user “TAIGxrp” chimed in, pointing out that the White House does not have powers to classify XRP as a security in the middle of the ongoing litigation, or even at all.
How the legal battle between the SEC and Ripple stands
The last few weeks have seen the court case between Ripple and the SEC gain some momentum. Several key rulings have been made on motions that both parties have filed. The most recent motion ruled on was one that denied Ripple’s motion to seal certain documents from the public. The court ruled that the document, which contains communications by Ripple executives to third parties, be released to the public. Previously, the court ruled that the SEC had to relinquish documents it listed to not disclose due to Deliberative Process Privilege (DPP).
Ripple has notably shown resilience in the face of regulatory pressure. Late last month, the fintech company announced a shares buyback from a Series C funding round from 2019 that went sour. With the $200 million buyback, the valuation of Ripple has shot up to $15 billion.
