Ripple Mengharapkan SEC Menggugat atas Status Sekuritas XRP

In a surprise pengumuman, Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, has stated that the SEC is preparing to announce a lawsuit against the company.  This lawsuit will be based on the SEC’s belief that XRP tokens should be classified as securities – as such, Ripple should be responsible for their unregistered issuance.

Waktu yang Aneh

Meskipun pengumuman ini tidak terlalu mengejutkan, waktunya memang aneh.  Not only have the involved parties decided to go down this path over the holiday season, but Ripple has taken the unconventional step in acknowledging the pending lawsuit, prior to its official announcement.

Furthermore, the timing is peculiar because it is occurring under the watch of SEC Chairman, Jay Clayton.  With only beberapa minggu tersisa dalam pekerjaan, Clayton is opting to kick-start what is sure to be a long and drawn out lawsuit.  This means that the upcoming regime at the SEC will be responsible for these actions, whether it wants to be or not.  Ripple executives liken this decision to a ‘parting shot’ by the current regime – one last attack on blockchain before leaving.

Speaking with Fortune, Garlinghouse stated, “Clayton did this with one foot out the door. Rather shamefully, he has decided to sue Ripple, and leave the legal work to the next chairman.”

Tidak Takut pada Ripple

While the SEC has shown a propensity for holding small ICOs accountable for illegal actions taken over the past few years, the regulatory body has shown no fear of larger outfits.

Ripple remains one of the largest and most influential company’s involved in blockchain to this day, and will represent the biggest fish in crypto targeted by the SEC to date.  Other examples of the SEC taking on large cases include the resolved situasi involving Telegram, in addition to a recent penyelesaian with Robinhood.

This development involving the SEC is not the first time that Ripple has come under fire regarding the status of XRP tokens.  Over the past few years, investors themselves have filed multiple gugatan against the company, putting forth similar claims to what is expected of the SEC.

Respons Pasar

To get sued is never a good thing, and markets have responded accordingly over the past day with regards to the price of XRP tokens.

In addition to losing ground versus the USD, this price slump coincides with a continued resurgence among other top assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, resulting in an even greater relative drop.  Despite these hard times, XRP remains the 3^rd ranked token within the industry with a $21 billion marketcap at time of writing.

Yang menarik adalah apakah akan terjadi eksodus pendukung dari XRP.  Jika ya, ke mana mereka akan pergi?  Akankah mereka meninggalkan pasar kripto? Atau apakah aset seperti Bitcoin dan Ethereum akan mendapat manfaat, karena jelas bukan sekuritas?

Pertimbangan Relokasi

Terlepas dari hasil gugatan yang akan datang ini, hal ini mungkin menjadi dorongan terakhir yang membuat Ripple mengemas dan meninggalkan Amerika Serikat.

Pada pertengahan 2020, Ripple executives indicated that the company was contemplating a move outside of the country, as the regulatory landscape was simply undeveloped and unfriendly to blockchain based companies.  While these claims were then retracted weeks later, these new developments are sure to reignite that fire, potentially resulting the Ripple saying its goodbyes.