Courts Now Recognize Judge Torres’ XRP Ruling as ‘Law of the Land’: Ripple Top Lawyer

Ripple CLO highlights the significance of the Binance ruling, saying courts now recognize Judge Torres’ decision as being consistent with the law of the land. 

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, has applauded Judge Analisa Torres for correctly determining that XRP in itself is not a security. 

In a recent X post, he asserted that other U.S. courts are now accepting her decision because it is aligned with established securities laws, especially the Howey framework. 

Judge Torres in SEC v Ripple got it right – XRP, in and of itself, is not a security. Other Courts are recognizing her decision for what it is – consistent with the law of the land. pic.twitter.com/5C8BmVLVTC

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) June 29, 2024

Alderoty attached an excerpt from the SEC v. Binance ruling, illustrating how the court acknowledged Judge Torres’ decision as being ‘consistent with the law of the land.’ The Binance order issued on June 28 by Judge Amy Berman Jackson read: 

“The Court is inclined to agree with the approach of the court in Ripple Labs since the ‘it-is-what-it-is’ approach of the SEC appears to be inconsistent with the clear Supreme Court directives quoted in its pleading.” 

Furthermore, Alderoty stated that despite the SEC’s efforts to complicate established securities laws with its inconsistent legal theories, the courts are gradually seeing through the regulator, as reflected in the Binance lawsuit ruling. 

Binance Judge Cites Ripple Decision to Dismiss SEC’s BNB Secondary Market Claims

For context, Judge Jackson Friday issued the highly anticipated SEC v. Binance decision. The judge held that claims relating to anti-fraud violations, sales of BNB after its ICO, and failure to register with the SEC, among others, will proceed. 

However, she dismissed charges related to Binance’s Simple Earn and secondary market sales of BNB and BUSD. Interestingly, she cited the Ripple decision while dismissing the charges pertaining to Binance’s secondary market sales of BNB and BUSD. 

Recall that Judge Torres, in her landmark decision last year, held that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP on digital exchanges do not constitute investment contracts. 

Ruling in the SEC v. Terraform Labs lawsuit, Judge Jed Rakoff disagreed with Torres’ reasoning. However, the recent Binance decision is considered a ‘big win for clarity over secondary market sales of digital assets,’ according to FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett. 

Ripple CLO Highlights Significance of Binance Decision 

In a follow-up post, Alderoty further highlighted the significance of the Binance decision, emphasizing how the ruling addressed the market confusion regarding the infamous William Hinman 2018 speech. 

In the controversial speech, Hinman declared Ethereum (ETH) a non-security, citing the cryptocurrency’s decentralized structure. 

Commenting, Alderoty characterized Hinman’s speech as a fairy tale, suggesting a token could magically transition between security and non-security. 

He noted that the SEC lawyers disagreed with Hinman’s reasoning in the build-up to the speech, warning that such a declaration would create market confusion. The Ripple CLO asserted that the recent Binance decision further rejects Hinman’s notion that a token could transition between being a security and non-security. 

Hinman’s 2018 speech was a fairy tale that a token could magically morph between security and non-security. SEC’s lawyers told Hinman that wasn’t the law and his speech would create market confusion. Friday’s Binance decision again tries to bury the ghost of Hinman.

Creating…

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) June 30, 2024