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☆ Ripple CEO calls U.S. SEC Chair Gary Gensler a 'political liability' over lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Brad Garlinghouse, chief executive officer of Ripple Labs Inc., speaks during the Token2049 conference in Singapore, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse fired off criticism at U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler on Tuesday, calling the SEC chief a "political liability" amid an ongoing lawsuit. The crypto startup is fighting the SEC over allegations that the firm and its executives illegally sold XRP tokens in unregistered securities sales. A case against Garlinghouse and fellow executive Chris Larsen was dismissed in October. The SEC did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Persons: Brad Garlinghouse, Gary Gensler, Garlinghouse, Chris Larsen Organizations: Ripple Labs Inc, U.S . Securities, Exchange, SEC, CNBC Locations: Singapore

☆ US SEC cannot appeal Ripple Labs decision, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: A representation of cryptocurrency Ripple is seen in this illustration taken August 6, 2021. Torres said Rakoff had been considering Terraform’s motion to dismiss the SEC case, and was required to accept all reasonable inferences in the regulator’s favor. A trial in the Ripple case is scheduled for April 23, 2024. In its December 2020 lawsuit, the SEC accused Ripple of illegally raising more than $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP. The case is SEC v Ripple Labs Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Analisa Torres, Torres, Jed Rakoff, Rakoff, Brad Garlinghouse, Chris Larsen, Ripple Organizations: YORK, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Ripple Labs, REUTERS, District, SEC, U.S, Terra, Binance, Court, Southern District of Locations: Manhattan, U.S, Southern District, Southern District of New York

Smartphone with displayed Coinbase logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Coinbase Global Inc FollowOct 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday asked a federal judge to deny a motion from Coinbase Global (COIN.O) to dismiss the regulator's lawsuit against the cryptocurrency exchange. THE TAKETuesday's filing showed that the SEC is seizing on the Terraform Labs ruling to raise questions about the ruling in the Ripple case, which the crypto industry had hailed as a victory. THE CONTEXTThe SEC sued Coinbase in June, accusing it of operating illegally as a national securities exchange, broker and clearing agency without registering with the regulator. Thus, the Motion hinges on whether Coinbase intermediated transactions involving investment contracts, and thus securities.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Coinbase, Paul Grewal, Hannah Lang, Chris Prentice, Jonathan Stempel, Cynthia Osterman, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Coinbase, Ripple Labs, Terraform Labs, Terraform, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, Washington, New York

☆ Ripple obtains full license to operate in Singapore as it expands in Asia-Pacific
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Brad Garlinghouse, chief executive officer of Ripple Labs Inc., speaks during the Token2049 conference in Singapore, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Cryptocurrency company Ripple said on Wednesday that it has obtained a major payments institution license in Singapore, a strategic step toward growing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. With the full license, Ripple will continue to provide regulated crypto payment services in Singapore. Ripple said it will continue to prioritize the region for adoption of its crypto payment services. The country's Payment Services Act — which regulates payment services and the provision of crypto services to the public — has been in effect since January 2020.

Persons: Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple, Monica Long, headcount Organizations: Ripple Labs Inc, Monetary Authority of, CNBC Locations: Singapore, Asia, Pacific, Monetary Authority of Singapore, U.S

☆ Fact Check-Fabricated screenshot says SEC is not appealing Ripple Labs crypto ruling
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not publish a press release in August saying that it will not appeal a landmark ruling involving the cryptocurrency company Ripple Labs. The headline of the screenshot reads: “SEC decides not to appeal Ripple” (ghostarchive.org/archive/R0c7W). Another added, “That's a good news for @Ripple & Cryptocurrency market as well” (ghostarchive.org/archive/ehrV1). The SEC decided to appeal a ruling involving cryptocurrency company Ripple Labs Inc. on Aug. 9. A screenshot seemingly showing a SEC press release to the contrary is fake.

Persons: Read Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Ripple Labs, Reuters, Labs, Twitter

☆ US securities regulator 'disappointed' with defeat over Ripple's XRP
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. securities regulator said Monday the agency was "disappointed" with a judge's recent ruling that Ripple Labs Inc did not violate federal securities laws in a major blow to its efforts to rein in the cryptocurrency sector. The SEC has sued a number of crypto firms in recent months, arguing that most crypto tokens are securities that should be registered with the agency. AI could also amplify the world financial system's interconnectedness, something for which current risk management models may not be prepared, Gensler said. "Many of the challenges to financial stability that AI may pose in the future ... will require new thinking on system-wide or macro-prudential policy interventions." Gensler's remarks echoed statements he has made in recent months on managing risks created by the use of AI in finance.

Persons: Gary Gensler, Gensler, Gensler's, We've, It's, Douglas Gillison, Andrea Shallal, Hannah Lang, Matthew Lewis, David Evans, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Ripple Labs, U.S . Securities, Exchange, SEC, prudential, Thomson Locations: cryptocurrency, U.S, Washington

☆ Global rules leave crypto firms with no place to hide, says G20 watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Globally agreed rules leave crypto firms with no option but to introduce basic safeguards to prevent the blow-ups seen at FTX exchange and other crypto casualties, the G20's Financial Stability Board said on Monday. The FSB published on Monday final recommendations requested by the G20 on supervising firms that trade cryptoassets such as bitcoin. The watchdog also revised its existing recommendations for stablecoins in light of the demise of TerraUSD/Luna coins. The collapse of FTX in November 2022 highlighted vulnerabilities from crypto firms and the FSB said that all countries should apply the recommendations, even those that are not members of the watchdog. "Therefore, cryptoasset players need to stop operating outside the regulatory perimeter or in non-compliance with existing rules," FSB Secretary General John Schindler told reporters.

Persons: FTX, John Schindler, Schindler, Bitcoin, IOSCO, Huw Jones, Louise Heavens Organizations: Ripple Labs, European Union, FSB, Thomson Locations: FTX, Bahamas, Basel

The crypto industry is in a tug-of-war with the SEC and its Democratic chair Gary Gensler, who has described the crypto market as a "Wild West" riddled with fraud. Saying most crypto tokens are securities, the SEC has cracked down on crypto trading platforms, including the top U.S. exchange Coinbase, in an effort to bring the industry under its oversight. Crypto firms have long disputed the SEC's jurisdiction but until Thursday no court had supported that view. The two sources, for example, said firms are considering ways to use the Judge's ruling for their defense. However, she also ruled Ripple's direct sales of XRP to investors should have been registered as securities, handing the SEC a partial victory.

Persons: Coinbase, Gary Gensler, Robert Frenchman, Mukasey Frenchman, Analisa Torres, XRP, Crypto, Teresa Goody Guillén, Spokespeople, Binance, Carol Goforth, Stuart Alderoty, Philip Moustakis, Jody Godoy, Chris Prentice, Hannah Lang, Tom Hals, Michelle Price, David Gregorio Our Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Ripple Labs, Democratic, Mukasey Frenchman LLP, San Francisco, U.S, District, Baker, Hostetler, University of Arkansas, Reuters, Circuit, Seward, Washington , D.C, Thomson Locations: Mukasey, New York, Washington, New York , Connecticut, Vermont, Washington ,

A U.S. judge said on Thursday that Ripple Labs Inc did not violate securities law by selling its XRP token on public exchanges. Although the decision was specific to the individual case, it unleashed a wave of optimism among crypto investors that more cryptocurrencies may also not be deemed securities. Still, the enthusiasm for some was tempered by a report from the Wall Street Journal that Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has laid off more than 1,000 people in recent weeks. "The regulatory environment is changing," said Matthew Dibb, chief investment officer at crypto asset manager Astronaut Capital. Still, crypto investors have taken encouragement from the world's biggest asset manager, BlackRock (BLK.N), filing to launch a bitcoin exchange traded fund last month.

Persons: XRP, Coinbase, Bitcoin, Matthew Dibb, Justin d'Anethan, Binance.US, bode, Sam Bankman, Alex Mashinsky, Patrick Hillmann, Hillmann, We'd, Chris Weston, it's, Vidya Ranganathan, Simon Cameron, Moore, Alex Richardson, Josie Kao Organizations: Labs, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Wall Street, Capital, SEC, U.S, Wall, Twitter, BlackRock, Fidelity, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, WASHINGTON, U.S, California , New Jersey, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Asia, Keyrock, Hong Kong, XRP, reining, China, Binance, Melbourne, Singapore

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had accused Ripple Labs and its current and former chief executives of selling unregistered securities when conducting a $1.3 billion offering for XRP, which was created in 2012. Shares in Coinbase, which is also embroiled in litigation with the SEC over its trading of crypto tokens, surged 24.5% on Thursday following the decision, finishing at $107. Coinbase said it would allow trading of the XRP token again on its platform in line with the court ruling. Bitcoin , the world's largest cryptocurrency, was last up 4.1% at 31,584 while Ethereum , the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, rose 6.43% to $1,993.3. Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; editing by Michelle Price and Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Coinbase, We've, Analisa, Torres, Paul Grewal, Chibuike Oguh, Michelle Price, Deepa Babington Organizations: YORK, Coinbase Global Inc, Ripple Labs, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Labs, Inc, Marathon Digital Holdings Inc, Microstrategy Inc, Mining Corp, Twitter, Thomson Locations: U.S, Coinbase, New York

CompaniesLaw Firms Ripple Labs Inc FollowCoinbase Global Inc FollowJuly 13 (Reuters) - Ripple Labs Inc did not violate federal securities law by selling its XRP token on public exchanges, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday, a landmark legal victory for the cryptocurrency industry that sent the value of XRP soaring. An SEC spokesperson said the agency was pleased with part of the ruling in which the judge held that Ripple violated federal securities law by selling XRP directly to sophisticated investors. XRP sales on cryptocurrency platforms by Garlinghouse and co-founder and former CEO Chris Larsen, and other distributions including compensation to employees also did not involve securities, Torres ruled. PARTIAL WIN FOR THE SECThe SEC won a partial victory as Torres found the company's $728.9 million of XRP sales to hedge funds and other sophisticated buyers amounted to unregistered sales of securities. Both the Ripple and Coinbase cases focus on registration requirements and whether certain digital assets are securities under U.S. law.

Persons: XRP, Analisa Torres, Brad Garlinghouse, We’ve, Torres, Paul Grewal, Chris Larsen, Garlinghouse, Larsen, Gary DeWaal, Rosenman, Tom Emmer, Jody Godoy, Chris Prentice, Tom Hals, Chizu Nomiyama, Conor Humphries, Leslie Adler, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Labs, Ripple Labs, U.S, District, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Twitter, Supreme, WIN FOR, Republican, Thomson Locations: U.S, XRP, Katten, New York, Wilmington , Delaware

☆ Coinbase, crypto industry hope new Supreme Court doctrine is silver bullet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

But the agency will have to provide a more detailed response if Ripple, Coinbase or crypto groups that have filed friend-of-the-court briefs pushing major questions doctrine arguments manage to pique a judge’s interest. Former Coinbase manager Ishan Wahi expanded on the major questions theory last February in his motion to dismiss the SEC’s insider trading case. Under the major questions doctrine, they said, the SEC does not have the requisite Congressional authority to regulate digital assets. Coinbase’s contention in that paper, released last Thursday, is all-encompassing: The major questions doctrine, according to Coinbase counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell, “forecloses” regulation of the trillion-dollar crypto industry. But if the SEC moves ahead with a case against Coinbase, the major questions doctrine could turn out to be, well, a major question.

Discussions between the SEC and Coinbase broke down in recent weeks, with one source saying the two sides had moved "further apart." The crypto industry believes it operates in a regulatory gray area not governed by existing U.S. securities laws - and that new legislation is needed to regulate the industry. "But if necessary, we welcome the opportunity for Coinbase and the broader crypto community to get clarity in court." Prior to Gensler's arrival, the SEC engaged in targeted enforcement, but the Democratic chair has ratcheted up focus on crypto platforms themselves. "There couldn't be a more significant development for crypto markets and crypto investors," said Philip Moustakis, former SEC enforcement lawyer and partner with Seward and Kissel LLP in New York.

Companies Ripple Labs Inc FollowMarch 3 (Reuters) - Ripple Labs Inc said in court papers Friday that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision supports one of its key defenses in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case over the cryptocurrency XRP. The SEC has asked Torres to decide that Ripple had fair notice that XRP was a security under U.S. law. Ripple and the executives have said the question of whether or not the law was vague should go to trial. A ruling in the case could further define what digital assets are considered securities in the U.S. The case is SEC v. Ripple Labs Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ Sorry crypto world, but SEC isn’t backing down on ‘regulation by enforcement’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Right now, Wahi argued, crypto users are simply left guessing about their exposure to SEC enforcement — and that's not sustainable. That strategy, Hodl Law asserted, didn't give token-holders fair notice about whether their coins are securities. Otherwise, Hodl Law said, Ethereum users have no idea if the SEC will swoop in with an enforcement action. The SEC also said that it's not obliged to warn crypto users about its interpretation of securities laws. It also, however, provides the first robust explanation of an argument I expect to see more often in SEC crypto cases: SEC enforcement, according to Wahi, is precluded by the Supreme Court’s recently articulated major questions doctrine.

☆ Factbox: Major cryptocurrency cases probed by U.S. authorities
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BITMEX EMPLOYEESEmployees of BitMEX, including the cryptocurrency exchange's founders, pleaded guilty this year to willfully failing to establish, implement and maintain programs to prevent money laundering. The firm's cofounders pleaded guilty in federal court in New York and each agreed to pay a $10 million criminal fine. Another of the firm's employees also pleaded guilty, and agreed to a $150,000 fine. ONECOIN LTDIn 2019, U.S. authorities charged the alleged leaders of a multibillion-dolar pyramid scheme involving a fraudulent cryptocurrency called OneCoin. After a six-month court battle, Telegram agreed to pay an $18.5 million civil penalty and return $1.2 billion to investors.

☆ Galaxy wins bid for collapsed crypto lender Celsius' GK8 unit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 2 (Reuters) - Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd (GLXY.TO) will buy crypto lender Celsius Network LLC-owned digital asset custody platform GK8, the crypto financial services company said on Friday. The deal will add nearly 40 people, including cryptographers and blockchain engineers, as well as an office in Tel Aviv, Galaxy said. Founded by Michael Novogratz, the company offers a suite of financial services including trading, asset management and investment banking among others to the crypto-focused companies. Reuters had reported in August that San Francisco-based blockchain payments company Ripple Labs Inc was interested in potentially purchasing assets of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network, according to a company spokesperson. Crypto markets were shaken by the collapse of the popular terraUSD and luna tokens in May, followed by the implosion of crypto exchange FTX last month.

☆ FTX founder's remarks pose challenge for his lawyers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Andrew Goudsward | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nov 18 (Reuters) - FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, facing mounting legal challenges over the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, may have harmed his defense by speaking publicly in recent days, legal experts said. Bankman-Fried has sought to explain the implosion of FTX and disparaged government regulators in posts on Twitter and conversations with reporters. Attorneys said such statements will likely make life more difficult for the defense lawyers seeking to manage fallout from the exchange’s demise and navigate multiple federal investigations. His law firm represents many other financial industry clients. Joseph is a former president of the American College of Trial Lawyers who has written about racketeering law and rules of evidence.

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