Ripple (XRP) has gained high rankings in popularity lists after winning a victory in one of the longest and most contentious legal battles in corporate history. According to the social analysis firm LunarCrush, the social discussion of the payment-focused cryptocurrency has increased following the landmark decision.
In terms of social interactions, the cryptocurrency has outperformed other major assets like Ethereum (ETH) and only trailed behind Bitcoin (BTC). Prices significantly declined after a 80% surge on the day the decision was made. Nevertheless, according to CoinMarketCap, XRP is still 50% higher than a month ago and is currently trading at $0.74.
While the XRP community and crypto advocates were celebrating, voices criticizing the decision started to rise. Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official John Reed Stark expressed his concerns and made statements pointing out the fundamental flaws of the decision. The former executive of Ripple stated:
The decision is shaky, likely to be mature for appeal, likely to result in a rollback, and not necessarily a cause for celebration.
Stark objected to the distinction made between institutional investors and individual investors when it comes to expanding SEC protections and remedies. The decision had mentioned that XRP is a security when sold to institutional investors, not to the general public.
Statements from Ripple’s Former Executive!
Secondly, he questioned the logic behind exempting token sales through exchanges from securities laws. According to Stark, the assumption that individual buyers are ignorant and know nothing about the issuer of the cryptocurrency was “not just condescending, but also downright insulting”.
He also objected to the notion that individual investors could not know Ripple’s intentions. The official argued that they have access to the same information as institutional investors. The former SEC official stated that individual investors invested in XRP because they knew it was backed by Ripple. The next course of action accepted by the SEC is yet to be determined. According to a previous report by Bloomberg, they were reviewing the regulatory decision.
