Amid growing tension between financial regulators and crypto platforms, the announcement of a new lawsuit by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) against Binance has thrown a lot of water. The SEC accuses Binance of having artificially inflated its transaction volumes and of having violated several rules, in particular with regard to the access of American users to its platform. However, one detail particularly challenged some observers: the unexpected absence of Ripple’s XRP from the list of cryptocurrencies that the SEC now considers to be securities. While XRP has been under attack from the SEC for two years, this absence raises a multitude of questions. Why is XRP missing from this list? Is this a deliberate strategy on the part of the SEC? What might be the repercussions of this decision?
The unexpected absence of XRP from SEC unregistered securities
Since Monday, June 5, the Binance crypto platform has been in the crosshairs of the SEC. Indeed, the regulator has officially initiated proceedings against the firm. The SEC accuses Binance of a number of facts that had already leaked in the press.
Concretely, the regulator accuses Binance of having artificially inflated the volume of its transactions. This, in order to use for other purposes, the funds that users have entrusted to it. Not to mention, argues the SEC, that Binance would have failed to limit access to its platform to American users. The result of all this is that the company would have deceived investors about the effective control that the platform deploys.
In the press release announcing the lawsuits launched against Binance, the SEC made new revelations. These relate to assets that the regulator now considers as securities.
The list evokes 61 cryptos which would be unregistered securities. In other words, it is an enumeration of assets that fall under the legal rigors of the SEC. A total which represents 100 billion dollars of tokens in circulation on the market.
To everyone’s surprise, a token is illustrated by its absence from this list: Ripple’s XRP. The situation cannot be explained given the rag that burns between the SEC and Ripple. However, there would be reasons for this.
An absence justified by strategic reasons?
If the absence of XRP is so surprising, it is because its presence would have been logical. Especially since for the past two years, the asset has just been suffering the pangs of the SEC. Given the utter lack of meaning behind the asset’s absence from the SEC’s list of cited securities, speculation abounds.
According to the latter, the remarkable absence is not unrelated to the ongoing lawsuit against Ripple. According to some experts, it was a deliberate choice by the SEC to protect its back.
Thus, the regulator would fear that taking a contrary position would end up serving its interests. An option that should not be ruled out in the event of a Ripple victory. A situation which a fortiori could discredit it in the case of the lawsuit it is launching against Binance. At a minimum, this choice would be pragmatic. It would aim to ensure that the stock market policeman does not find himself faced with decisions that would be inconsistent, to say the least.
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