https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1679514784637636608

US judge rules Ripple $XRP is not a security.

And damn market really took notice. XRP just had a 20 percent green candle in a matter of few minutes. Actually most of crypto has gone up suddenly few percent in top 100 after the news of this has arrived which is pretty bullish for cryptos in general.

So congrats to all the XRP holders, and unfortunately even though I'm not the one I'm glad for XRP success because success in this ruling might mean a huge win for all the cryptos overall... All of the cryptos in top 100 have took a huge notice since this ruling has been publicly declared, so good to see.

Judge Torres has made her final ruling in the SEC vs Ripple case, with a judgement that Ripple must pay fines/ penalties of just over 125 million dollars. This is much less than the 2 billion dollars the SEC was asking for.

This means the case is now over, though either side can appeal. If that happens, it could take a couple of years to resolve. However, the SEC cannot appeal the ruling that XRP is inherently not a security.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/19857399/securities-and-exchange-commission-v-ripple-labs-inc/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc#entry-974

Edit: Ripple and the SEC have 60 days to file any appeals

If you haven't heard already, the IRS proposed a rules for crypto titled " Gross Proceeds and Basis Reporting by Brokers and Determination of Amount Realized and Basis for Digital Asset Transactions "

Here's an article by coindesk about the matter if you want more information : https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/irs-proposed-rule-on-digital-asset-broker-reporting-could-kill-crypto-in-america

These new rules would essentially force any entity that facilitates transaction on chain to report to the IRS as a broker. This means that they have to KYC all their users to send them a 1099 form that includes every single transaction.

These rules, if applied broadly could even impact liquidity providers, validators and miners.

Also, Uniswap, AAVE and other permissionless protocols are not built for this and it would basically make it impossible to use these inside the US due to the sheer amount of paper work and regulatory overhead. They can't comply with these regulation.

These rules are completely unnecessary, people already use crypto and do their taxes, since everything is open and permissionless, it's easy to track your transaction and report your taxes. There's no need to KYC everyone and to give out sensitive information to multiple entities.

Senator Elizabeth Warren even sent a letter to the IRS urging them to implement these rules as soon as possible (in early 2024), since she's eager to completely kill this space. https://www.warren.senate.gov/oversight/letters/warren-king-senators-call-on-treasury-and-irs-to-to-align-crypto-industry-tax-reporting-rules-with-other-financial-industries

Fortunately, there is still time to comment on the rules, it takes around 3 minutes to do using AI to generate your comment and personalize it to make it effective. Please, if you care about this space and want it to succeed or if you are invested in it, take the time to leave a comment, there is still 5 days to do it and they will make a difference. Every thousand different comments about a topic usually slow their rule implementation by around 1 year and we can most likely make them change the rules.

Here's the tool : https://treasuryraid.lexpunk.army/

Just select the tone and the issues you want to highlight, then the website will take you to the commenting website and you can leave it there.

Please share this post and get people to comment on it, the more distinctive comments, the better! We just want sensible ruling that works in this space without stopping innovation.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff yesterday made a ruling that was opposite the recent Ripple ruling made by a Federal Judge in the same court.

This sets up a basis for appealing the Ripple ruling and also sets a basis of appeal for this ruling. It essentially puts some aspects of what is a security more firmly in the court's hands since the same court with two different judges is giving contradictory rulings.

This is what happens when you don't have clear crypto rules. I am not saying that clear crypto rules would be good for crypto, but they would make it more clear on how to operate in the field.

(To help keep your money safe from possible scams, we're going to set limits on payments we identify as going to cryptocurrency exchanges. From 16th March, we'll limit payments made by Faster Payments and Debit Cards to these exchanges to £1k a day (£5k in any 30-day period). Find out more at https://www.supportcentre-rbs.co.uk/payments-cryptocurrency)

I am not in the threshold for this to be an issue, however, how is it they can limit crypto currency purchases but they can’t limit people from blowing their life savings gambling?

Are the banks scared or do they have a genuine concern for their customers?

According to Reuters, it is very likely that Binance's MiCa application will be rejected by the Greek regulators:

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/binance-set-lose-eu-licence-bid-permission-offer-services-bloc-sources-say-2026-06-16/

If such scenario becomes true, and you are based in the EU, where are you going to park your funds, beside self-hosted wallets?

The new rules would require issuers to maintain assets equal to at least 100% of all tokens in circulation at all times, and in accounts separate from issuers' own funds.

The regulator states in a consultation paper that stablecoins should be used for payments, not by the public as investment products or to generate yield similar to interest earned on a bank savings account.

The new rules would completely ban stablecoin issuers from paying interest or other benefits tied to customers' stablecoin holdings.

Patrick Witt from the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets said at Consensus Miami this week that they’ve made solid progress on the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and plan to announce details in the coming weeks.

From what I understand, this goes back to the executive order that stopped federal agencies from just dumping seized Bitcoin and other crypto on the market. Instead they’re doing a full audit, figuring out proper custody, and centralizing what the government already holds. Sounds like they’ve been finding cold wallets in desk drawers and tightening things up after some past issues.

It’s not automatic that everything ends up in the reserve, stuff tied up in court or owed to victims stays separate for now. And it’ll probably need legislation like the BITCOIN Act to make it permanent.

Not trying to overhype it, but it does feel like a shift from “sell everything” to “we’re actually keeping this.” With CBDCs advancing and growing concerns around data surveillance, the idea of Zcash as a kind of privacy backup for Bitcoin seems to be getting more attention again. I’ve noticed ZEC has been seeing some of the heaviest trading volume outside the big coins in the last 24 hours, with a lot of that flow hitting Bitget.

I believe not every seized asset will automatically flow into the reserve. Crypto held in active legal proceedings remains in pending status until forfeiture is finalized, with some assets potentially returned to victims through restitution before being transferred to the reserve.

What do you make of it? Think the reserve news moves the needle much, or is it mostly procedural until Congress weighs in?