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Ripple's XRP has surged to a five-month high US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) declared that Binance's digital assets were commodities.
At the time of writing, XRP is up 18.60% to highs of $0.57, a price not seen since October 2022.
On Monday, the CFTC sued Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao for offering crypto derivative products not that were not registered in the US. The lawsuit referred to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether and BUSD as commodities, rather than securities.
Read more: CFTC Sues, Says Compliance Efforts at Binance a Sham
Last week, XRP surged over 20% in 24 hours as a direct response to bullish to positive anticipate surrounding Ripple's SEC legal battle.
Rhode Island-based lawyer John Deaton, who represents the interests of 75,000 global XRP holders affected by Ripple's ongoing SEC battle, tweeted that the judge will likely rule in favor of Ripple.
Read more: XRP Surges as Ripple Set to Break Waves in SEC Case
Deaton also believes that documents relating to former SEC official William Hinman will be unsealed and revealed to the public, despite the SEC's objections and the judge's decision.
SEC vs. Ripple
In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen. The lawsuit alleges that Ripple and its executives violated US securities laws by offering unregistered securities through the sale of XRP tokens. Ripple allegedly raised $1.3 billion through these sales.
The SEC believes XRP should be classified as a security and that Ripple should have therefore registered the offering with the SEC. This would have required Ripple to provide investors with the required disclosures and financial information.
Ripple denied the allegations and argues that XRP is not a security but rather a digital asset like Bitcoin or Ethereum. The company claims that XRP is not controlled by Ripple and that it functions as a decentralized currency that is used for cross-border payments and remittances.
The outcome of the lawsuit could have significant implications for the wider cryptocurrency industry and how digital assets are regulated in the US.
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