How Ripple’s Court Win Over the SEC Boosted Crypto Markets

iexclusivenews -The crypto industry celebrated a major legal victory on July 13, when a U.S. federal judge ruled in favor of Ripple Labs in its ongoing lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that started in 2020.

Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that Ripple’s XRP (XRP) token is not a security, but only for programmatic sales on crypto exchanges.

However, the SEC also scored a partial win, as the judge determined that XRP is a security when sold to institutional investors, based on the Howey test criteria.

The news sent Ripple soaring to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

Within hours of the ruling, XRP’s market cap jumped by an impressive $21.2 billion to hit a new yearly high of $46.1 billion.

Climbing from seventh place to surpass Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) and Binance’s BNB (BNB) token.

The verdict could also benefit crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance in their own SEC lawsuits.

Tyler Winklevoss, the CEO of crypto exchange Gemini, said the ruling “shreds” the SEC’s case against Coinbase.

His twin brother, Cameron Winklevoss, called the ruling a “landmark moment” that will make it hard for the SEC to claim jurisdiction over cryptocurrencies.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis said that the decision highlights the urgent need for Congress to provide a clear crypto framework that protects consumers.

South Korea to Require Crypto Firms to Disclose Their Holdings from 2024

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced a new bill that will force all firms that issue or hold cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) to disclose their holdings.

The new measures aim to increase transparency in the accounting and disclosure of crypto assets in line with supervision guidelines that require accounting for each crypto transaction.

However, the initiative also seeks to revise accounting standards that mandate disclosure of virtual asset transactions.

Argentina Launches Its First Bitcoin Futures Contract

Argentina welcomed its first Bitcoin futures contract on July 13, three months after the country’s securities regulator approved the underlying index as part of a strategic innovation agenda.

The Bitcoin futures contract will be based on the price of BTC quoted by several market participants providing BTC/ARS trading pairs.

All trades will be settled with Argentine pesos, and traders are required to make deposits through bank transfers.

According to local media reports, the product will initially be available only to institutional investors.

There’s no clear timeline for when retail investors can trade Bitcoin futures contracts in the country.

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Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Arrested and Charged

The former CEO of now-defunct crypto lender Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, was arrested after an investigation into the company’s collapse.

On the same day, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Mashinsky, accusing him of raising “billions of dollars” through unregistered and fraudulent offers, as well as selling “crypto asset securities.”

The criminal charges came along with those from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which announced a complaint against Celsius and Mashinsky on July 13.

According to the commission, Celsius allegedly acted as an unregistered commodity pool operator, while Mashinsky was an unregistered associated person of the said operator, which are violations of the Commodity Exchange Act.

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Ripple wins a key ruling in its SEC lawsuit, boosting crypto markets. Plus, South Korea, Argentina and Celsius make crypto headlines.