The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a mandate on Aug. 22 approving the dismissal of the appeals in the case between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The court order, shared by lawyer James Filan on X, officially ends one of crypto’s most consequential legal battles. 

Despite the news, XRP’s price increased less than 1% within one hour, trading at $3.0694 as of press time.

The dismissal follows a joint filing on Aug. 7, in which Ripple and the SEC agreed to end their appeals after a formal Commission vote. 

The agreement marks the conclusion of a dispute that began in December 2020 when the SEC sued Ripple Labs, CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen for allegedly conducting an unregistered securities offering through XRP sales.

Legal battle concludes, ETF odds remain high

Under the settlement terms, XRP will not be classified as a security, representing a major victory for Ripple. Each side will cover its own legal costs, according to the court filing. 

Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty previously described the agreement as closing a chapter that has overshadowed the crypto industry for nearly four years. 

The outcome places Ripple alongside other crypto firms like Coinbase that have successfully resolved enforcement actions with the SEC. Further, it removes regulatory uncertainty around XRP’s status, keeping the odds of approval of XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) high.

In February, Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart predicted 65% odds of approval for spot XRP ETFs in the US. 

Polymarket bettors placed their odds of such an approval happening this year at 98% in early June, followed by a 10% slide after the SEC delayed decisions on multiple filings the same month.

Despite the sliding odds on the crypto-based prediction market, Balchunas and Seyffart raised their odds to “90% or higher” on June 20.

Polymarket traders continued to oppose the analysts, taking the odds to 62% in early August after the news that Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw opposed the approval.

However, Balchunas reiterated the high odds of approval of XRP ETFs:

“Interesting, trades reporting how Polymarket odds of XRP ETF approval went down to 62% after the votes were disclosed showing Crenshaw voting no, but a) she’s gonna vote no on EVERYTHING and b) it’s meaningless, she’s outnumbered = we haven’t changed our odds, still at 95%.”

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The court has dismissed the financial regulator ASIC’s suit to impose penalties on the digital asset platform.

Per a Tuesday judgment, the court found that the discontinued ‘Earner’ product was a loan, not a managed investment scheme.

The Earner product was offered from March to November 2022, allowing customers to ‘loan’ specified crypto in return for interest paid at a fixed rate.

ASIC Loses Block Earner Suit

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) initiated the case, alleging violations of corporation laws by both Block Earner’s ‘Access’ and ‘Earner’ products.

Per the announcement, the “ASIC is seeking declarations, injunctions, and pecuniary penalties from the Court.”

The Australian Federal Court issued a ruling in February 2024, imposing penalties over the ‘Earner’ product. According to Judge Ian Jackson’s order at the time, the products were deemed to require an AFSL license.

However, another ruling in June 2024 relieved Block Earner from paying a penalty in the local financial regulator’s legal action, as the crypto firm has “acted honestly and not carelessly when it offered the Earner product.”

The regulator believed that Block Earner should pay a penalty of as much as $350,000, the Tuesday judgement read.

Justices David O’Callaghan, Wendy Abraham and Catherine Button have dismissed the ASIC’s appeal made last year. Further, the trio had ordered ASIC to cover all legal costs from both the original trial and the appeal.

Per the regulator’s recent press release, ASIC noted that it is “considering this decision” of the Federal Court.

No Plans to Re-Introduce ‘Earner’ Products

Despite the legal victory, Block Earner noted that it has no plans to re-launch its ‘Earner’ products for Australian customers.

Speaking to local media, Block Earner co-founder James Coombes said the Earner product was voluntarily closed in November 2022. Further, he stressed that there is no intention to reintroduce it.

“This case highlights the importance of ensuring regulations evolve alongside technology,” he said. “Without modernised guidance, Australia risks losing fintech innovation to offshore markets more supportive of responsible crypto entrepreneurship.”

Additionally, Block Earner co-founder Charlie Karaboga said that the ruling “brings closure to a long and difficult process.”

The post Australian Federal Court Dismisses ASIC Appeal, Favoring Crypto Lender Block Earner appeared first on Cryptonews.

A Solana (SOL)-based decentralized wireless network crypto project is skyrocketing after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed its lawsuit against the protocol.

In a new thread on the social media platform X, the development team behind Helium (HNT) says that the regulatory agency has dropped its lawsuit against the crypto platform, which alleged that they violated securities laws.

According to a press release, Helium developer Nova Labs agreed to pay the SEC $200,000 to settle the accusation without admitting to any wrongdoing.

News of the dismissal caused HNT to rally as it went from a low of $2.62 on April 10th to a peak of $3.03 just a day later. It has since retraced and is trading for $2.96, a 9.9% increase during the last 24 hours.

The SEC, which originally filed the lawsuit in January, had accused Nova Labs of distributing unregistered securities.

“The SEC has agreed to dismiss its unregistered securities claims with prejudice. Helium Hotspots and the distribution of HNT, MOBILE, and IOT through the Helium Network are not securities. It also means that the SEC cannot bring these charges against Helium again.”

In a recent blog post, Helium says the dismissal of the case is a “landmark outcome” for the digital assets industry and DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) technology, which tokenizes real-world infrastructure.

“This landmark outcome is a pivotal turning point for the Helium community and the entire crypto industry, removing legal uncertainty for DePIN projects that use crypto incentives to build real-world infrastructure.

With the dismissal of the SEC’s unregistered securities claims with prejudice, the outcome establishes that selling hardware and distributing tokens for network growth does not automatically make them securities in the eyes of the SEC.”

This marks another lawsuit dropped by the SEC against crypto giants this year after President Donald Trump took office. Other dissolved cases include ones against the crypto exchanges Kraken and Coinbase, retail trading giant Robinhood, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, and crypto wallet developer MetaMask.

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Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and former CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has publicly refuted claims regarding potential investment discussions involving the Trump family and Binance’s American operations. 

This denial follows a report by the Wall Street Journal, which suggested that representatives of the Trump family have been in negotiations to acquire a financial stake in Binance’s US arm.

Binance’s Former CEO Responds To Speculative Reports 

In a swift response posted on X (formerly Twitter), Zhao stated, “Sorry to disappoint. The WSJ article got the facts wrong. Fact: I have had no discussions of a Binance US deal with…well, anyone.” 

Bloomberg also reported on Thursday that the Trump family’s project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), had previously engaged in talks with Binance about potential collaboration, including the development of a new US dollar-backed stablecoin. However, it is unclear whether any substantial agreements were reached.

Notably, Zhao reportedly met with Steve Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty and former President Trump’s Middle East envoy, at the Bitcoin MENA 2024 conference in Abu Dhabi three months after his release from a halfway house.

Yet, Zhao criticized Bloomberg’s report, indicating it lacked substantive evidence and was based largely on speculation. He emphasized that neither he nor Binance had any business dealings with World Liberty or its representatives, nor had they acquired any World Liberty Foundation (WLF) tokens.

CZ Addresses Pardon Speculation

The Wall Street Journal’s account on the other hand, claimed that discussions about a potential investment by the Trump family have been ongoing since last year, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. 

The report also alluded to Zhao’s past legal troubles, including his plea of guilty to criminal charges related to Binance’s failure to properly monitor for money laundering, which resulted in a four-month prison sentence.

In his posts on X, Zhao suggested that the Journal’s article was politically motivated, reflecting an ongoing anti-crypto sentiment from the Biden administration. He expressed concerns that these narratives are part of a broader “war on crypto” that extends from the previous administration. 

CZ also addressed the idea of seeking a presidential pardon, stating, “No felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA charge.” 

The timing of Zhao’s denial is significant, as Binance’s US division recently reinstated its American dollar-backed fiat services after nearly two years, marking its return as a fully operational crypto exchange in the country.

Binance faced significant challenges in the US after the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged the company with violating anti-money laundering (AML) laws and operating without a proper money transmitter license, leading to a record $4.3 billion settlement in 2023. 

As part of this agreement, Zhao pled guilty to related charges and stepped down as Binance’s CEO, serving four months in prison before his release in September of the past year.

While Binance continues to navigate ongoing litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), there are signs that these legal challenges may be drawing to a close. The SEC has paused litigation against Binance for 60 days as it concludes multiple lawsuits against other crypto firms.

At the time of writing, Binance Coin (BNB), the exchange’s native token, was trading at $576, up 3% in the last 24 hours. 

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