On July 13, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its highly anticipated summary judgment decision in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) action against Ripple Labs, Inc. (Ripple) and two of its senior leaders, Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen. Significantly, the Court found that blind sales of cryptocurrency through digital asset exchanges did not violate federal securities laws. This decision is the first major ruling in which a U.S. federal judge has found that certain digital assets sales fall outside the ambit of U.S. securities law. While certain key portions of the decisions will likely be challenged by all parties, for now the decision appears to provide potential ways forward for the U.S. crypto market, which has been targeted by the SEC.
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