XRP Aligns with BTC in Status, But What About ETH?

Ripple may be in hot waters in the US courts, but the same cannot be said about XRP. According to the company's third-quarter report, XRP is the only asset outside of Bitcoin (BTC) that has gained regulatory clarity regarding its status.

Ripple highlights XRP's clear regulatory status in its Q3 report, stating that XRP and BTC are the only two tokens with this clarity in the US. A Southern District Court ruling cemented XRP's position, and the SEC's subsequent appeal focused on Ripple's activities involving the token rather than its classification.

The SEC had a reason to believe that ETH's Proof-of-Stake protocol resembled securities after The Merge, according to Gensler. While the SEC abandoned its probe on Ether last June, it never officially clarified if the world's second-largest crypto asset fell within the scope of US securities laws.

With no clear determination from the SEC, ETH's classification is not yet as clear as BTC or XRP, which have clear legal rulings or statements. However, the suspension of the SEC's investigation was generally viewed as a positive development for the digital assets sector.

Despite the independence of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) public blockchain and its token from Ripple, the cryptocurrency community and mainstream media tend to associate them closely. This is due to Ripple's significant stake in the token, with most of it held in escrow, and its use of XRP to facilitate transactions on its payment platform.

Ripple, under the leadership of CEO Brad Garlinghouse, has been actively expanding the institutional adoption of XRP and XRPL, positioning them for further growth in the long run.