Crypto venture investor and former Department of Justice prosecutor Katie Haun weighed in on a recent court decision in Ripple’s three year long legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In a tweet, Haun said that the court’s decision, which found that sales of XRP across public exchanges have not constituted the sale of unregistered securities, was “a good outcome for the industry.”
“The consensus is that the court drew a reasonable line—distinguishing between XRP itself (not an investment contract and thus not a security) and certain XRP transactions in which institutional investors paid money to Ripple directly and Ripple made contractual commitments in exchange, creating an investment contract under Howey,” Haun said in a tweet.
Haun previously worked with Chris Dixon, running a16z’s crypto funds. She launched Haun Ventures, which reportedly raised more than $1 billioin in assets, in 2022.
Haun said that an appeal of the decision by US District Judge Analisa Torres is “possible,” but added that an “immediate appeal seems unlikely both because the agency would have to ask the court to split this decision from the portion going to trial and because I am skeptical the SEC actually wants legal clarity.”
To be clear, Ripple’s battle with the SEC is far from over. Furthermore, Judge Torres also ruled that Ripple violated securities laws when it offloaded XRP to sophisticated institutional investors.
Still, a number of market participants noted the development could bode well for other crypto firms in their own ongoing legal proceedings, with investment banking giant JPMorgan noting it could benefit Coinbase.
“The ruling appears on the surface to be a win for Coinbase in its recent lawsuit by the SEC,” JPMorgan equity analysts led by Kenneth Worthington wrote in a report on Friday. “We see Coinbase in the best position to benefit from the improved confidence and regulatory clarity given Coinbase’s market-leading position and respected reputation in the industry.”
