Satoshi Or Not, Here He Comes | XRP, Coinbase Soar On Court Ruling

Ripple scores partial win. Mashinsky charged with fraud.

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Nina Bambysheva Senior Reporter, Forbes Money & Markets
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Steven Ehrlich Director, Forbes Digital Assets
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CRYPTO CELEBRATES RIPPLE’S PARTIAL VICTORY

Ripple Labs won a significant part of its lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission over the sale of more than $1.3 billion worth of crypto asset XRP. A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Ripple did not break the law when XRP was sold on public exchanges, but sales of the token to institutional investors—for instance, those involving hedge funds—constituted an unregistered offer and sale of investment contracts in violation of federal securities laws.

The SEC brought the case against Ripple in 2020, alleging the company had breached U.S. securities laws by selling the XRP token without first registering it with the agency. The value of all cryptocurrencies jumped almost 6% to $1.3 trillion after the ruling was announced, and XRP surged 76% to 82 cents, according to CoinGecko, making it the fourth-largest digital asset. It traded slightly lower, at 78 cents, Friday morning in New York. The Coinbase exchange’s stock price jumped almost 20% as investors saw the ruling as bullish for the company’s own fight against the SEC, which has accused it of acting as an unregistered securities market.

THE CELSIUS AFFAIR

The bankrupt crypto lender’s former CEO Alex Mashinsky was arrested and charged with seven criminal counts–including securities fraud, commodities fraud and wire fraud–according to an indictment unsealed in New York federal court Thursday. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Trade Commission also sued Mashinsky and Celsius in connection with the case.

Prosecutors allege Mashinsky perpetrated a years-long scheme to mislead customers before Celsius collapsed last year with more than $1 billion in debt. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on a $40 million bond secured by his Manhattan residence.

CURRENT PRICE OF TOP 5 COINS (7-Day % Change)

Coin

Price

Percent Change

Bitcoin (BTC)

$31,298

3.6%

Ether (ETH)

$2,001

7.4%

Tether (USDT)

$1.00

0%

XRP (XRP)

$0.78

66%

Binance Coin (BNB)

$256

9.0%

Source: Forbes Digital Assets. Prices as of 12:00 p.m. on July 14, 2023.

The True Value Of Cryptocurrencies

The war in Ukraine has once again underlined the true value proposition of digital currencies that are censorship resistant and easily transportable. To get in-depth research, interviews, trading signals and other valuable information unavailable anywhere else subscribe to Forbes CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor.

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N.Y. CONGRESSMAN WANTS THE SEC INVESTIGATED OVER CONTROVERSIAL CRYPTO LICENSE

Representative Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) has drafted requests for two investigations into the license granted to Prometheum Ember ATS that allows it to act as a cryptocurrency exchange even though it is not active in that business and may not be able to under current regulations. Torres questions whether the issuance of Prometheum’s Special Purpose Broker Dealer (SPBD) license was a political ploy by the SEC rather than a meaningful effort to assimilate digital assets into the current regulatory architecture.

The issue has become a lightning rod in the crypto industry in recent weeks, as the securities regulator and Prometheum’s co-CEO Aaron Kaplan argue that this permit proves that no new regulations or laws are necessary for digital assets such as bitcoin, ether and thousands of other tokens. It also comes as Congress is wrestling with multiple bills seeking to clarify the regulatory landscape for the industry.

SATOSHI OR NOT, HERE HE COMES

It may not matter if Craig Wright created bitcoin. The real question is whether the nearly 4,000 patents he controls or has pending will force computer programmers around the world to stop using open-source software as they now do—or pay up. Read more.

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