Re-judgment against Ripple, SEC Appeal Rejected: Law Decided
On October 3, US District Court Judge Annalisa Torres rejected the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) request to appeal the bankruptcy of Ripple Labs, the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency. Torres rejected the SEC's request, saying the regulator had not met its burden of raising legal questions or differences of opinion on the issue.
The regulator appealed the court's July ruling, arguing that retail sales of XRP tokens do not meet the legal definition of securities. The SEC argued that there was “substantial reason for a difference of opinion” on the rules at hand.
After the SEC appeal was rejected, the price of XRP rose by almost 6%. However, the decision is not a complete loss for the regulator, as Torres has scheduled an April 23, 2024 hearing to address the remaining issues in the case.
Crypto lawyers seem divided on the importance of court orders. While many lawyers and analysts hailed the decision as a clear victory in Ripple's lawsuit against the regulator, other legal experts urged the public to temper their enthusiasm. Bill Hughes, a lawyer for the blockchain company, told Cointelegraph that the SEC's rejection of the appeal was something he expected, adding that it is unusual for such an appeal to go through this process. “The court says so. [Torres’] The decision is limited to this matter. Frankly, it's good for the SEC if one case doesn't tell you much about the next,” Hughes explained.
Monitoring the SBF test
If you're struggling to catch up on the ongoing Sam Bankman-Fried experiment, Cointelegraph has you covered. Our reporters are on the ground in New York following the trial every day. And from the defense's firm stance on Binance's role in the FTX collapse to the in-depth details of how Bankman-Fried's former crypto empire ended up with an $8 billion hole in client assets, there's a lot to recap.
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Hong Kong forms crypto task force.
The Hong Kong Police Force and the Security and Futures Commission (SFC) have established a crypto-specific task force to deal with illegal crypto exchange activities. The task force is to strengthen the monitoring and investigation of illegal activities carried out by virtual asset trading platforms, share information on suspicious activities, assess the risks of suspicious transactions and cooperate in investigations.
Days before the meeting, 11 people were detained for questioning over their possible role in the JPX scandal, in which the SFC accused the firm of promoting its services in the state without a license.
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Canada comes with regulations for stablecoins
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has directed exchanges and cryptocurrency issuers for its interim approach, which it calls value-referenced cryptocurrency assets, with a particular focus on stablecoins. The CSA reaffirmed that stablecoins “may be securities and/or derivatives,” which are prohibited from trading on Canadian crypto exchanges. However, if issuers maintain appropriate asset reserves with a qualified custodian and crypto exchanges offering stablecoins make “publicly available certain information related to management, operations and asset reserves,” the CSA may allow those assets to be traded.
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The UK has added 143 crypto companies to its warning list.
The UK's financial market regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has added 143 crypto exchanges to its warning list of unlicensed firms whose clients should “beware”. Among them were major exchanges such as Huobi-owned HTX and KuCoin. The warning list doesn't show much other than the statement, “You should avoid dealing with this company.” However, failure to comply may result in criminal charges.
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