SEC’s Long-Running Case Against Ripple Officially Over

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2020 lawsuit against Ripple Labs is officially over, after the two parties informed the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that they were voluntarily dismissing their respective appeals of a 2023 ruling in the case. The SEC and Ripple will each bear their own costs, the filing said on Thursday. The joint stipulation ends the legal battle between the SEC and Ripple which began in 2020 after the SEC sued Ripple in 2020 under former Chair Jay Clayton (who now runs the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York) alleging it violated securities laws through the sale of XRP, the token closely associated with the company. XRP jumped 5% after Thursday’s filing, trading around $3.27 as of press time. The SEC filed an appeal in 2024 after a district judge’s ruling in 2023 said that Ripple making XRP available to retail traders through exchanges, while Ripple cross-appealed to maintain its arguments in the case. The parties agreed to drop their respective appeals in June, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said at the time, leaving District Judge Analisa Torres’ penalties in place. These penalties were tied to her finding that Ripple had violated securities laws in selling XRP to institutional traders, and included $125 million in fines and a permanent injunction against further violations of the law. Ripple and the SEC paused their appeals earlier this year after Donald Trump retook office as U.S. president and installed new leadership at the agency. The SEC has dropped over a dozen cases and investigations into crypto companies in the last few months. The parties attempted to negotiate these penalties down, but multiple attempts were rejected by Judge Torres over procedural and other concerns. Powered by WPeMatico

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Donald Trump Signs Order Letting Crypto Into 401(k) Retirement Plans

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to allow crypto investments in 401(k) retirement plans, opening the gates for millions of dollars to flow into the asset class. The order, which also allows for private equity investments, is poised to dramatically widen the scope of what retirement plan providers can direct funds to. This in turn could help crypto prices while further integrating digital assets with the broader financial system. “Alternative assets, such as private equity, real estate, and digital assets, offer competitive returns and diversification benefits,” a fact sheet published Thursday said. While it was never technically prohibited to add crypto to a retirement plan, the Department of Labor previously put out guidance for fiduciaries to “exercise extreme care before they consider adding a cryptocurrency option to a 401(k) plan’s investment menu for plan participants.” In May, that guidance was fully rescinded. Trump’s order would now direct the DOL to publish new guidance which would put cryptocurrencies in the same bucket as other assets. This could encourage wealth managers, who previously stayed away from the risky asset class, to reconsider their positions, possibly bringing millions of dollars into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) holding bitcoin (BTC) and other assets, or the cryptos directly. “This order isn’t about the government saying ‘crypto belongs in 401(k)s.’ It’s about the government getting out of the way and letting people make their own decisions,” said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise. The order comes as crypto assets have finished one of its best quarters to date, with many of them reaching new all-time highs in June amid several promising steps towards clearer regulation in the U.S. Bitcoin, which is currently trading at $117,351 and is up 26% year-to-date, has also been seeing its volatility shrink to levels not seen since 2023, signaling a maturing market and investor confidence. While both spot crypto as well as other financial vehicles holding the assets will be ok to add to retirement plans, given the risk-averse nature of such investments, many managers could reach for the ETFs rather than direct exposure. “I already trade the BTC ETFs in my IRA. I think the BTC ETFs are fine for retirement accounts. But straight coin seems too risky and would be better suited to non retirement accounts,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, CEO of Hirsch Holdings and editor-in-chief of Stock Trader’s Almanac. The spot bitcoin ETFs have seen unprecedented success since their launch in January 2024. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) alone is now handling over $85 billion worth of bitcoin. Debanking order Trump signed several executive orders on Thursday, including another one addressing debanking. A fact sheet published by the White House said the order would “ensure that Federal regulators do not promote policies and practices that allow financial institutions to deny or restrict services based on political beliefs, religious beliefs or lawful business activities, ensuring fair access to banking for all Americans.” The order itself directs federal banking regulators, the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Secretary, alongside other officials, to “remove the use of reputation risk or equivalent concepts that could result in politicized or unlawful debanking” within the next six months. The order itself did not mention crypto, though the fact sheet said the “digital assets industry has also been the target of unfair debanking initiatives.” Powered by WPeMatico

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Bitcoin Surges Past $117K as Trump Taps Stephen Miran for Federal Reserve

Having tumbled to below $112,000 at one point a few days ago, bitcoin (BTC) has returned above $117,000 in late after U.S. trading Thursday, for now retaking the range it had been in for most of July. First giving a boost the crypto market overnight was news about President Trump’s intention to sign an executive order allowing crypto (among other assets) in 401(k) retirement plans (that order has now been signed). The push above $117,000 occurred late in the U.S. trading session Thursday on news of the nomination of Stephen Miran to replace the departing Andrea Kluger on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. Currently the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Miran is presumably an ally of the president and for now probably likely to at least partially share his dovish views on the current level of interest rates. Even prior to the Miran selection, a series of Fed speakers over past days — reacting to Friday’s weak jobs numbers and Monday’s soft ISM Services print — made clear their expectation that a rate cut is likely coming at the central bank’s next meeting in September. According to CME FedWatch the chance of September cut had risen to 95% from just 38% one week ago. The Fed’s Jackson Hole Economic Symposium is taking place in two weeks. The confab has in recent years served as a spot for Fed chairs to signal important policy actions, so all eyes and ears are likely to be focused on Jerome Powell’s keynote speech there. Alongside the move higher in bitcoin to $117,500 — up 2% the past 24 hours — ether (ETH) is ahead 5% to $3,867 XRP (XRP) 3.4% to $3.10. Checking traditional markets find gold up 1% to $3,468 per ounce, the dollar modestly lower across the board and major stock market indices mixed. Powered by WPeMatico

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