- In a first, Ripple’s XRP holdings were reportedly below the halfway mark.
- ODL has been introduced in a new market.
- Ripple and SEC will file reply briefs in November.
New ‘milestone’ for Ripple
Ripple labs reported that it held less than 50% of total XRP cryptocurrency which is less than 50 billion.
Ripple’s Quarter 3 XRP Markets Report had 3 key points:
- “Ripple’s XRP holdings are below 50% of the total outstanding supply for the first time.”
- On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) which enables faster and cheaper cross border transactions was now available in Brazil.
- “Total XRP sales by Ripple, net of purchases, were $310.68M vs. $408.90M USD the previous quarter.”
With ODL, Ripple is enabling cross-border payments between Brazil and Mexico in partnership with Travelex, a forex firm.
The company addressed criticism that Ripple controlled the XRP ledger (XRPL) via its share of XRP holdings which were over 50% up till now. Ripple squarely denied the allegation of control by stating that XRPL uses “Federated Byzantine Consensus to validate transactions, add new features and secure the network, which means that each validator node gets one vote regardless of how much XRP they own.”
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse was upbeat about the news and tweeted regarding the same:
“Below 50% – a huge milestone! For 10 years, Ripple has focused on using XRP & the XRPL within our products for its speed, security and scalability for movement of value. As more customers use XRP in their payments flows, it’s clear there is real utility here.”
Updates on SEC v Ripple case
Ripple mentioned the status of its legal dispute with US financial regulatory and enforcement agency Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It mentioned that ever since the Hinman speech documents were handed over to the court the SEC was using ambiguity to enforce the crypto industry.
The Hinman documents contain the speech that former SEC official William Hinman made while at the agency. Hinman declared explicitly that Bitcoin and Ethereum were not securities. The status of XRP as a security is what the regulatory body and Ripple disagree about.
SEC did not hand over the documents regarding Hinman’s speech citing various reasons. Members of the crypto community and the public in general called the move unfair and criticized SEC’s move. When the agency did produce the documents, it was considered as a small victory for Ripple given that Hinman made a “market moving speech.”
Per the report, Ripple and the SEC will file reply briefs in November and await the “judge’s decision on the motions.”
The SEC v Ripple case will be a landmark case that sets the precedent for future regulations.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/10/28/ripples-now-owns-less-than-50-of-xrp-crypto-and-operates-just-4-of-the-130-validator-nodes/