The lawsuit against Ripple by the U.S. Securities and exchange commission (SEC) may soon be put on hold. It follows on from the agency recently putting off its legal cases against two large crypto companies, Coinbase and Binance. John Reed Stark, a former SEC official, noted that these provoking delays could signal the change of cryptocurrency cases in the way the SEC deals with it.
However, the SEC told a court that the Coinbase lawsuit would be affected by its new Crypto Task Force. For this reason, both the SEC and Coinbase asked the case to be paused. In the Binance case, the same two month grace was asked for. The moves are a sign that the SEC may soften its hard line on crypto companies.
The SEC has further rebranded its “Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit” to the “Cymer and Emerging Technologies Unit.” But the change may indicate the SEC is taking a step back from aggressive crypto lawsuits.
The SEC has been battling against Ripple, the company which created the XRP cryptocurrency for years in court. The main argument is centered on whether XRP should be defined as a security. For certain types of sales, a court ruled in 2023 that XRP is not a security, but the SEC continues to take issue with this decision.
The Ripple lawsuit could end in settlement and the approval of XRP exchange traded fund (ETF) before attorney Jeremy Hogan. As other ETF applications are approved, some experts believe a settlement is closer.
Many now believe that the Ripple case will be following the same path as the Coinbase and Binance case after the SEC paused them. This could lead to a pause or settlement soon, indicating that the SEC has a new, more cooperative attitude toward the crypto companies.
