SEC v. Ripple 案：加密貨幣監管的風向標

週三，法官 Analisa Torres 結束了美國證券交易委員會加密貨幣案件的第一章，並處以 1.25 億美元的罰款

A New York federal judge has brought the first chapter of a major Securities and Exchange Commission crypto case to a close, imposing a $125 million penalty on Ripple and forbidding the digital assets firm from violating securities law in the future.

紐約聯邦法官結束了美國證券交易委員會加密貨幣重大案件的第一章，對 Ripple 處以 1.25 億美元的罰款，並禁止這家數位資產公司未來違反證券法。

The penalty fell far short of the $2 billion the SEC had sought, causing XRP—the token closely tied to Ripple—to soar more than 20%.

處罰金額遠低於 SEC 要求的 20 億美元，導致 XRP（與 Ripple 密切相關的代幣）飆升超過 20%。

The SEC v. Ripple case, which began in late 2020, has been viewed as a bellwether for how courts will rule on a broader anti-crypto enforcement campaign by the agency—a campaign the industry claims exceeds the SEC’s legal authority.

SEC v. Ripple 案於 2020 年底開始，被視為法院將如何對該機構更廣泛的反加密執法行動做出裁決的風向標——業界聲稱該行動超出了 SEC 的法律權威。

In response to Wednesday's ruling, Ripple executives and other crypto watchers framed the decision as a victory for crypto firms. In the bigger picture, though, an almost certain SEC appeal—alongside the vague language of the ruling—means that long-awaited regulatory clarity is still a distant dream.

作為對週三裁決的回應，Ripple 高層和其他加密貨幣觀察家將這項決定視為加密貨幣公司的勝利。然而，從更大的角度來看，美國證券交易委員會幾乎肯定會上訴，再加上裁決的模糊語言，意味著期待已久的監管明確性仍然是一個遙遠的夢想。

"The immediate decision by Judge Torres on balance is very positive for Ripple," said Joe Castelluccio, a partner at Mayer Brown and the co-leader of the law firm's fintech and blockchain practice groups, adding that the decision should still "give the industry and the market a bit of pause."

Mayer Brown 合夥人、該律師事務所金融科技和區塊鏈業務團隊聯合負責人Joe Castelluccio 表示：「總的來說，托雷斯法官立即做出的決定對Ripple 來說非常積極。」他補充說，該決定仍應“給行業帶來好處”。

Since its founding in 2012, Ripple has carved out a prominent position in the crypto sector through its promise of building a global payments network and its proprietary token, XRP, which has gained a fiercely loyal follower base and an enviable $35 billion market cap.

自 2012 年成立以來，Ripple 透過承諾建立全球支付網路及其專有代幣 XRP，在加密貨幣領域佔據了顯著地位，XRP 贏得了極其忠實的追隨者基礎和令人羨慕的 350 億美元市值。

Along with the financial success, Ripple has faced a series of legal challenges, including the 2020 lawsuit filed by the SEC under then-chair Jay Clayton.

除了財務上的成功外，Ripple 還面臨一系列法律挑戰，包括 2020 年由時任主席 Jay Clayton 領導的 SEC 提起的訴訟。

Clayton's successor Gary Gensler inherited the case, which quickly became the agency's flagship litigation as it pursued a bruising enforcement campaign against the volatile industry. The SEC argued that the company had violated the law by raising over $1.3 billion through an unregistered digital asset securities offering.

克萊頓的繼任者加里·詹斯勒（Gary Gensler）繼承了此案，該案件很快就成為該機構的旗艦訴訟，因為該機構對動蕩的行業採取了嚴厲的執法行動。 SEC 認為，該公司透過未經註冊的數位資產證券發行籌集了超過 13 億美元的資金，違反了法律。

After a high-profile court battle, which included the unveiling of internal SEC emails detailing the inner workings of its approach to crypto, Torres issued a surprising decision in July 2023. She found that Ripple's sales of XRP directly to institutional investors such as hedge funds violated securities laws, but secondary sales of the token on platforms such as exchanges did not. Ripple—and most of the industry—hailed the ruling as a victory, even as the SEC filed to immediately appeal the decision pending a final judgment.

經過一場備受矚目的法庭訴訟，其中包括披露SEC 內部電子郵件，詳細說明其加密貨幣方法的內部運作方式，托雷斯於2023 年7 月做出了一項令人驚訝的決定。向對沖基金等機構投資者出售XRP違反了證券法，但在交易所等平台上進行的代幣二次銷售卻沒有違反。儘管 SEC 立即對該決定提出上訴，等待最終判決，但 Ripple 以及大多數行業人士仍稱讚這一裁決是一次勝利。

In the time between Torres's initial decision and her ruling on Wednesday about damages, several other federal judges—including two in Torres's own district court—have weighed in with crypto-related rulings of their own. These decisions have come to separate and sometimes contradictory conclusions than what Torres found—meaning the legal status of digital token sales has become a ripe legal question for appeals courts, and potentially for the Supreme Court.

在托雷斯做出初步決定和周三就損害賠償做出裁決之間，其他幾位聯邦法官（包括托雷斯所在地區法院的兩名法官）也參與了自己與加密貨幣相關的裁決。這些判決得出的結論與托雷斯的結論不同，有時甚至是相互矛盾的，這意味著數位代幣銷售的法律地位已成為上訴法院乃至最高法院的一個成熟的法律問題。

A penalty and an injunction

處罰和禁令

While it is common for government attorneys to ask for greater penalties than are ultimately enforced, Torres's final figure of $125 million is much closer to Ripple's ask than what the SEC requested.

雖然政府律師要求比最終執行的處罰更重的處罰是很常見的，但托雷斯 1.25 億美元的最終數字比 SEC 的要求更接近 Ripple 的要求。

"Anyone is going to spin things their own way, but it's hard not to see it as a win for Ripple," said a former SEC attorney now working in crypto law, who spoke with Fortune on the condition of anonymity because of their continued work with the agency. They pointed specifically to the fact that the judge denied the SEC's request for disgorgements from Ripple, meaning the company would not have to pay back any profits it had earned from illegal behavior.

目前從事加密貨幣法工作的前SEC 律師表示：「任何人都會按照自己的方式行事，但這很難不被視為Ripple 的勝利。」由於繼續工作，他在接受《財富》雜誌採訪時要求匿名。他們特別指出，法官拒絕了 SEC 要求 Ripple 返還非法所得的請求，這意味著該公司無需償還從非法行為中賺取的任何利潤。

Despite the financial win, Torres also imposed an injunction against Ripple, ordering the company to refrain from further violations of securities laws. In her decision, she points to Ripple's "willingness to push the boundaries" of the law after the SEC filed its initial lawsuit, arguing that there is a likelihood the company "will eventually (if it has not already) cross the line."

儘管取得了財務上的勝利，托雷斯也對 Ripple 發出了禁令，命令該公司不要進一步違反證券法。在她的決定中，她指出，在美國證券交易委員會提起初步訴訟後，Ripple“願意突破法律的界限”，並認為該公司“最終（如果還沒有）有可能跨越界限”。

Because Torres declined to specifically name whether—and how—Ripple had continued to violate securities laws, the question of when digital token sales constitute securities offerings will remain open. "That points to continued guardrails around conduct in the market, and also the fact that this remains an unsettled area of the law," said Castelluccio.

由於托雷斯拒絕具體說明 Ripple 是否以及如何繼續違反證券法，因此數位代幣銷售何時構成證券發行的問題仍將懸而未決。卡斯特盧西奧表示：“這表明市場行為仍受到監管，而且這仍然是法律上一個尚未解決的領域。”

Even if Torres had been more firm in her language, it would be unlikely to impact the behavior of other companies, given the ongoing litigation by the SEC against crypto firms like Coinbase and Binance. Moreover, because other federal judges have sharply deviated from Torres's decision—with two in the Southern District of New York finding that secondary sales could also violate securities laws—the disagreements will not be settled until the cases wind their way up to the appellate level.

即使托雷斯的措辭更加堅定，也不太可能影響其他公司的行為，因為美國證券交易委員會正在針對 Coinbase 和 Binance 等加密貨幣公司提起訴訟。此外，由於其他聯邦法官嚴重偏離托雷斯的決定——紐約南區的兩名法官認為二次銷售也可能違反證券法——在案件最終進入上訴階段之前，分歧不會得到解決。

Given that the SEC already tried—and failed—to file an appeal in the Ripple case before Torres's final decision, the agency will likely again appeal the ruling, including the matter of secondary sales and the penalty

鑑於在托雷斯做出最終決定之前，美國證券交易委員會已經嘗試就 Ripple 案提出上訴，但未能成功，該機構可能會再次對該裁決提出上訴，包括二次銷售和罰款問題