Will Coinbase Relist XRP as Judge Declares Secondary Market Sales Non-Securities?

Calls for Coinbase to relish XRP have again reached a fever pitch inspired by a significant victory scored by LBRY with the help of Naomi Brockwell and John Deaton.

LBRY has called for Coinbase to relist XRP.

The digital content hosting blockchain team made this request in a tweet yesterday. According to LBRY, using the standard in the US Securities and Exchange Commission case against LBRY, XRP sold in secondary markets does not constitute securities. Unsurprisingly, the tweet has sparked a flurry of similar calls within the XRP community.

The statement comes following recent clarifications provided by the judge in the SEC v LBRY case. It is worth noting that following the court ruling in favor of the SEC in the case on Nov. 7, the regulator failed to heed the court directives at a status conference on Nov. 21 to provide clarity on secondary market sales of LBRY Credits (LBC). Instead, it looked primed to extend the ruling to the secondary markets, prompting LBRY to file a Motion to Limit the SEC’s Remedies.

The judge in the final hearing on Monday said he would clarify that his ruling did not apply to secondary markets. This is according to statements from Deaton, who represented Naomi Brockwell as a friend of the court, arguing for separating secondary market sales from the court ruling. According to Deaton, who was in attendance, the judge also disclosed that he was not looking to sign a permanent injunction to stop the sale of LBC.

LBRY Hearing: The Stakes for ALL Crypto https://t.co/YPbrBkw0Od

— CryptoLaw (@CryptoLawUS) January 30, 2023

Even more importantly, according to the pro-XRP lawyer, the judge forced the SEC to commit on the record that LBC, the underlying asset, did not represent a security based on a paper by commercial contracts lawyer Lewis Cohen. Notably, the paper evaluates all US securities cases since the Howey case, showing that no court has ruled that the underlying asset of an investment contract represents a security. This is a point Deaton has tried to drive home in several Twitter threads and court documents, including his brief on behalf of Brockwell in opposition to the SEC’s broad claims.

Just finished speaking on the record with the judge in court. Court is not over. Check in at 6pm. The judge and I talked about @lewiscohen’s article and he forced the SEC to commit on the record. See you at 6 https://t.co/lXPLdwIDqE

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) January 30, 2023

Consequently, XRP holders are also excited as, following this logic, XRP can not be termed a security. Recall that the SEC in December 2020 filed a complaint against Ripple asserting that XRP is an unregistered security. Notably, both parties have remained locked in an over two-year-long legal battle.

Is It Enough to Make Coinbase Relist XRP?

Whether these will be enough to make Coinbase and other US crypto exchanges relist XRP is yet to be seen. For context, several US crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, opted to delist XRP following the SEC’s legal action against Ripple due to fear of litigation.

It is worth noting that Coinbase is often seen as an exceptional case within the XRP community because the crypto exchange conducted an extensive analysis of XRP in 2018, which concluded that the asset was not a security. Furthermore, on the back of this analysis, the crypto exchange met with the SEC in 2019 to secure approval to list XRP. The SEC approved.

The crypto exchange is yet to respond to the XRP community at press time. It is safer to assume that it will wait for the outcome of the Ripple case. Notably, Ripple chief Brad Garlinghouse has maintained that he expects a ruling in the year’s first half. As reported, everything has been briefed, and only the judge’s ruling remains.