XRP price fell 41% on Binance over the past three days as news of the lawsuit by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against Ripple became apparent. As a result, several small exchanges have already halted XRP trading. So far, three small exchanges, namely OSL, Beaxy and CrossTower have either temporarily stopped trading or removed XRP. More exchanges may delist XRP According to prominent lawyers in the cryptocurrency industry, exchanges that listed XRP are at risk if the token is deemed a security. Hailey Lennon, a partner at Anderson Kill, said: “You know who is at risk if XRP …

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has responded to the latest regulatory complaint against XRP, assuring shareholders that the company will prove their case in the court. In a Dec. 22 blog post, Garlinghouse argued that the legal action against the XRP cryptocurrency brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is an “assault on crypto at large.” The executive is confident that the regulatory action will have a “snowball effect” on the industry as a whole, potentially affecting major players like Coinbase and all other cryptocurrencies, not just Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH): “Ripple, Chris and I may be the …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has taken legal action against Ripple as well as its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse,and co-founder Christian Larsen. In charges filed today in federal district court in Manhattan, the commission is alleging that the XRP token is classified as a security and is accusing Ripple and the two executives of raising more than $1.3 billion through an “unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering” to investors beginning in 2013. The SEC further alleges that Ripple distributed XRP for “labor and market-making services” and that Garlinghouse and Larsen failed to register their personal XRP sales, estimated at …

In its coming fight against the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ripple won't see support from some of the mainstays of the crypto lobby. Jerry Brito, the executive director of Coin Center, made it clear on Tuesday that his organization won’t put up any resistance to the notion that XRP is a security. In response to a question about Coin Center's work to keep XRP from the SEC's purview, Brito posted two articles where Coin Center argues why Bitcoin and Ethereum aren’t securities before pointing to the absence of such a post for Ripple: Here is a post where we argue …

The Securities and Exchange Commission sinks the firm behind another initial coin offering. Per a Dec. 21 cease and desist order, the SEC has determined that ShipChain's ICO for its SHIP Tokens was another example of an unregistered securities offering in disguise. Registered ShipChain raised $27.6 million from the end of 2017 through the beginning of 2018, at the high tide of the ICO craze. Registering in Delaware at the end of November 2017, the firm promised to enhance transportation and shipping transparency with its undeveloped blockchain platform. Unfortunately for the firm, it tied access to that platform to purchase …

Ripple will be sued by the United States Security and Exchange Commission for allegedly selling unlicensed securities in the form of XRP tokens, according to Fortune. In a move reminiscent of Coinbase's recent front-running of a New York Times expose of its alleged treatment of employees of color, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has taken the unusual step of posting to Twitter to seemingly legislate the issue in the court of public opinion. Today, the SEC voted to attack crypto. Chairman Jay Clayton - in his final act - is picking winners and trying to limit US innovation in the crypto …

Anthony Scaramucci’s multi-billion-dollar hedge fund, SkyBridge Capital, has submitted a formal application with the United States securities regulator to launch a new Bitcoin (BTC) fund. The Form D for an exempt offering appeared on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website on Monday. The proposal lists “SkyBridge Bitcoin Fund L.P.” as the issuer and “SkyBridge Bitcoin Fund GP LLC” as a related person. According to the document, the proposed fund is classified as a “hedge fund.” SkyBridge declined to disclose the size of targeted investment, but the minimum from any individual investor will will be $50,000. The offering would take place …

The crypto lobby seems to be cautiously optimistic about Biden's potential picks to lead the U.S.'s regulatory environment. That is, at least, according to a Thursday discussion hosted by TRM labs, featuring the executive directors of the Blockchain Association and Coin Center — respectively Kristin Smith and Jerry Brito. The pair got into a discussion of who they hope the Biden administration nominates to top regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, given that Janet Yellen seems to be a shoe-in to get the top spot at …

One of crypto's most-anticipated initial public offerings is one step closer. On Thursday, Coinbase announced that the firm had sent its draft registration for a public offering to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company wrote that: "The Form S-1 is expected to become effective after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions." Per its last valuation, Coinbase was worth $8 billion, but that was in 2018. As it stands, the firm is one of the biggest names in crypto and has a reputation for working well with U.S. regulators, two factors that have long …

Robinhood has staved off a suit from the Securities and Exchange Commission by agreeing to pay $65 million. The trading app, which takes its name from the English folk hero who stole from the rich to give to the poor, made its name by making investing simpler for newcomers. Per a Thursday announcement from the SEC, Robinhood deceived its users as to where its money was actually coming from between 2015 and 2018, citing: "Material misrepresentations and omissions by Robinhood relating to its revenue sources, specifically its receipt of payments from certain principal trading firms, also known as electronic market …

You could argue that the crypto industry should be crowdsourcing Blockstack’s legal expenses. Blockstack’s trailblazing work with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the initial coin offering (ICO) for its native Stacks (STX) tokens made headlines in mid-2019. On Monday, Cointelegraph reported on Blockstack’s legal analysis that said that upon the launch of its 2.0 network next month, Stacks will be sufficiently decentralized to leave the status of a security. Blockstack itself will be rebranding to Hiro Systems to further encourage the independence of Stacks tokens. To explain a complicated topic quickly, the concept of a “security” in investment is …

After years of legal action from United States governing bodies, Blockvest, a 2018 initial coin offering, or ICO, has received its final orders. “The SEC, as a government agency, seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement of funds received from Defendants’ illegal conduct, and civil penalties,” said a court document filed on Thursday. The court case takes aim at both Blockvest, and its founder, Reginald Buddy Ringgold III, also known as Rasool Abdul Rahim El. The Securities and Exchange Commission put the brakes on Blockvest in October 2018. The following two years saw a number of legal dealings and developments. Today’s news …