{"id":520,"date":"2026-01-10T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/?p=520"},"modified":"2026-03-02T14:13:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T13:13:30","slug":"ripple-xrp-pere-sec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/ripple-xrp-pere-sec\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ripple (XRP) Lawsuit and What Came After"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Ripple and XRP: The Most Expensive Legal Battle in Crypto History<\/h2>\n<p>In December 2020, the <strong>SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)<\/strong> sued Ripple Labs, accusing it of conducting <strong>unregistered securities offerings<\/strong> through the sale of XRP tokens. What followed became the longest, most expensive, and most significant legal battle in cryptocurrency history.<\/p>\n<h2>Background of the Lawsuit<\/h2>\n<h3>What is Ripple and What is XRP?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ripple Labs:<\/strong> A technology company developing cross-border payment solutions for banks (RippleNet, ODL)<\/li>\n<li><strong>XRP:<\/strong> A digital token used as a bridge currency in Ripple's payment network<\/li>\n<li><strong>XRP Ledger:<\/strong> An independent blockchain that uses consensus-based validation rather than proof-of-work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>The SEC's Charge<\/h3>\n<p>The SEC's position was simple: XRP is a <strong>security<\/strong>, because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ripple Labs created and sold it<\/li>\n<li>Buyers expected profits from Ripple's activities<\/li>\n<li>Under the Howey test, it qualifies as an investment contract<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Turning Points<\/h2>\n<h3>July 2023 Partial Ruling<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Judge Analisa Torres<\/strong> made a crucial decision:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>XRP's <strong>institutional sales<\/strong> (to investors, through direct contracts) \u2192 <strong>security<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>XRP's <strong>programmatic exchange sales<\/strong> (on the secondary market, to anonymous buyers) \u2192 <strong>NOT a security<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>This dual decision was <strong>precedent-setting<\/strong> for the entire crypto industry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2024-2025: Closure and Consequences<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Ripple paid a <strong>$125 million<\/strong> fine (the SEC originally requested $2 billion)<\/li>\n<li>The case essentially ended with <strong>Ripple's victory<\/strong> \u2013 XRP was not classified as a security on the secondary market<\/li>\n<li>XRP's price saw significant increases after the favorable rulings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What Happened After the Lawsuit?<\/h2>\n<h3>XRP ETF Applications<\/h3>\n<p>After the lawsuit's closure, several asset managers filed applications for a <strong>spot XRP ETF<\/strong> :<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Grayscale, 21Shares, and other companies are applying<\/li>\n<li>The probability of approval significantly increased after the favorable legal precedent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Ripple IPO Speculation<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Ripple Labs' stock market listing (IPO) has long been a topic<\/li>\n<li>The lawsuit's closure removed the biggest obstacle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>RLUSD \u2013 Ripple Stablecoin<\/h3>\n<p>In 2024, Ripple announced its own stablecoin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>RLUSD:<\/strong> Dollar-pegged stablecoin on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum<\/li>\n<li>Conquering the stablecoin market is Ripple's next big step<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The XRP Ecosystem in 2026<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ODL (On-Demand Liquidity):<\/strong> XRP is used as a bridge currency in 50+ countries' payment corridors<\/li>\n<li><strong>CBDC partnerships:<\/strong> Several central banks are testing Ripple's technology for CBDC solutions<\/li>\n<li><strong>AMM and DeFi:<\/strong> The XRP Ledger's native AMM (Automated Market Maker) function is building a vibrant DeFi ecosystem<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sidechains:<\/strong> EVM-compatible sidechains on the XRP Ledger with smart contract capabilities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Criticisms<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Centralization:<\/strong> Ripple Labs holds a significant XRP reserve (in escrow), which raises centralization concerns<\/li>\n<li><strong>Banking focus:<\/strong> Ripple improves the traditional banking system rather than replacing it \u2014 this is controversial for crypto purists<\/li>\n<li><strong>Token usage:<\/strong> It is debated whether ODL truly necessitates the XRP token, or whether the network could function without it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<p>The Ripple vs. SEC case was the <strong>most important legal battle in the crypto industry<\/strong> whose outcome set a precedent for the entire segment. Ripple successfully defended itself and is in a stronger position in 2026 than ever before.<\/p>\n<p><em>The story of XRP shows that in the crypto world, technology is only half the battle \u2014 the other half is decided on the regulatory and legal battlefield.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u26a0\ufe0f Legal disclaimer:<\/strong> This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. All investment decisions are made at your own risk.<\/p>\n<p><!-- IMAGE_PROMPT: Family Guy cartoon style illustration of a dramatic courtroom scene with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse (as a Peter Griffin-like character) celebrating with champagne while the SEC lawyer (resembling Stewie) sits defeated at the prosecution table, XRP tokens raining from the ceiling, the judge (looking like Adam West) banging a gavel shaped like a Bitcoin, a \"Case Dismissed\" banner unfurling, Brian as a news reporter outside the courthouse --><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Ripple \u00e9s az XRP: a legdr\u00e1g\u00e1bb jogi csata a kripto t\u00f6rt\u00e9nelemben 2020 december\u00e9ben az SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) beperelte a Ripple Labs-ot, azzal v\u00e1dolva, hogy az XRP token elad\u00e1s\u00e1val regisztr\u00e1latlan \u00e9rt\u00e9kpap\u00edr-kibocs\u00e1t\u00e1st hajtott v\u00e9gre. Ami k\u00f6vetkezett, az a kriptovalut\u00e1k t\u00f6rt\u00e9net\u00e9nek leghosszabb, legdr\u00e1g\u00e1bb \u00e9s legjelent\u0151sebb jogi csat\u00e1ja lett. A per h\u00e1ttere Mi a Ripple [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[114,167,137,150,29,156,133,152,164,151,136,143,174],"class_list":["post-520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hirek","category-kereskedes","tag-blockchain","tag-cbdc","tag-defi","tag-etf","tag-ethereum","tag-piac","tag-proof-of-work","tag-sec","tag-smart-contract","tag-stablecoin","tag-szabalyozas","tag-token","tag-xrp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":555,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520\/revisions\/555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}