The SEC and Ripple have been locked in a legal tug of war for years, stirring up waves of controversy and debate in the crypto community. Finally, Judge Analisa Torres has given an order establishing that XRP buyers trading on exchanges were not, in fact, engaging in a securities transaction, a decision that could have far-reaching implications for the industry. Lewis Cohen, co-founder of DLx Law, unpacks the details of this pivotal case and what it might mean for the future of cryptocurrency regulation.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

• why the SEC lawsuit against Ripple has such historical significance in the crypto industry
• how Judge Torres split the case into two categories 
• why the 'programmatic buyers' did not meet the four prongs of the Howey test
• why the institutional sales constituted an investment contract 
• what makes the Ripple case different from the Kik and Telegram cases
• whether the new ruling by Judge Torres will have an impact on how other crypto projects deal with their offerings
• why, in the event of an appeal, Lewis expects a Second Circuit decision to take at least one year
• whether Judge Torres' decision will impact the ongoing cases against crypto exchanges like Coinbase
• why Lewis thinks the XRP order will not change the likelihood that spot bitcoin ETFs get approved
• how there's no way to deal with information asymmetries in digital assets now

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Crypto.com
• Railgun DAO
• Ondo Finance
• Arbitrum Foundation

Guest

• Lewis Cohen, Cofounder DLx Law
• Previous appearances on Unchained: The Lummis/Gillibrand Crypto Bill: Is the ‘Ancillary Token’ Approach the Best

Links

• Previous coverage of Unchained on the Ripple case: 
• The SEC's Lawsuit Against Ripple and 2 Execs: What You Need to Know 
• Ripple's XRP: Why Its Chances of Success Are Low
• CoinDesk: Ripple, Crypto Industry Score Partial Win in SEC Court Fight Over XRP
• The Ineluctable Modality of Securities Law: Why Fungible Crypto Assets Are not Securities
• Paradigm Files Amicus Brief in SEC’s Lawsuit Against Ripple
• The Block: Lummis, Gillibrand to introduce revised comprehensive crypto bill 

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