Ripple XRP ruling sets precedent for retail crypto sales, AMLBot CEO says

Crypto markets saw a god candle in XRP following the Ripple v. SEC decision, but AMLBot’s CEO warned that a pushback from the agency could stall price momentum.

Last year, Ripple’s (XRP) initial victory over the SEC sent markets soaring. The sense that retail crypto investments were not securities flooded the new industry and sent prices soaring. The recent decision by U.S. federal judge Analissa Torres on August 7 similarly affected XRP’s price action.

Ripple was still up 23% at press time as Torres found no federal securities violations in sales made to retail investors via crypto exchanges.

However, institutional XRP sales were deemed a violation, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fined Ripple $125 million.

“If the SEC appeals the case, I think the price will go down. Otherwise, we could see it go up,” AMLBot CEO Slava Demchuk told crypto.news on August 8.

Ripple and CEO Brad Garlinghouse hailed the decision as a victory, but Demchuk said the SEC will likely appeal the outcome. After a four-year legal battle, the SEC’s appeal could create further uncertainty over the firm’s cryptocurrency, which some say operates like a quasi-stock.

24-hour XRP chart as of August 8 | Source: crypto.news How does Ripple’s decision impact future SEC v. Crypto cases?

Torres made the final decision about four months before the November presidential election. There is a belief that a new administration will take over the White House and reshape the SEC’s approach to crypto. Demchuk argued otherwise, saying the election result “will not significantly change the SEC’s approach.”

Still, the court’s decision on XRP paves the way for the digital asset industry to challenge the SEC’s claim that most cryptocurrencies are securities.

“Based on the current case, selling tokens through crypto exchanges rather than selling them directly could reduce the risk of the token being classified as a security,” Demchuk said.

Closely watched crypto companies like Uniswap Labs and MetaMask maker Consensys could use this precedent as ammunition in their own lawsuits against the SEC.