Key takeaways
- Ripple supports new SEC cryptocurrency rules with requested changes
- Alderoty cites over $150 million in legal costs
- Proposal could clarify token offerings and secondary-market transactions
Ripple has backed a new US Securities and Exchange Commission proposal designed to clarify cryptocurrency regulation, with Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty revealing that the company spent more than $150 million fighting for legal certainty during its years-long XRP dispute.
In an October 20 comment letter, Ripple supported the SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets while requesting changes to how digital tokens, investment contracts and secondary-market transactions would be treated under federal securities law.
Alderoty said years of enforcement-driven regulation had pushed cryptocurrency innovation overseas, arguing that companies should not need prolonged litigation to establish their legal obligations.
The submission marks another chapter in Ripple's relationship with the SEC, following the conclusion of its landmark XRP lawsuit in 2025.
Ripple Supports SEC Proposal After $150 Million Legal Fight
The SEC introduced Regulation Crypto Assets on August 18, proposing a tailored framework for certain investment contracts involving cryptocurrencies.
Under the official proposal, qualifying issuers could use exemptions permitting offerings of up to $5 million over four years or $75 million within a 12-month period.
Companies would still face disclosure obligations and federal anti-fraud protections.
The proposal also includes a conditional safe harbor addressing when an investment contract associated with a cryptocurrency may cease to be treated as a security.
Ripple supports that direction but wants the SEC to clarify that the investment arrangement surrounding a token, rather than the token itself, determines whether securities laws apply.
That distinction was central to the company's previous legal victory, when a federal court distinguished Ripple's institutional XRP sales from certain public-exchange transactions.
Alderoty's reported $150 million figure refers to the company's legal costs, not the separate $125 million civil penalty imposed in the case.
Why Ripple Wants Clearer Rules for XRP Transactions
Ripple's central argument concerns the application of the Howey test, which determines whether a particular arrangement qualifies as an investment contract.
The company maintains that selling a cryptocurrency through an investment contract does not automatically make every subsequent transfer of that asset a securities transaction.
This question has remained important for XRP investors and other cryptocurrency projects despite the Ripple court rulings.
Ripple also questions whether decentralization should serve as the decisive legal test for ending investment-contract obligations, preferring clearer standards tied to the promises and responsibilities associated with the original transaction.
The SEC had previously advanced its crypto safe-harbor initiative, seeking a more predictable framework for digital-asset fundraising.
However, exempt offerings would not mean unlimited fundraising without regulatory oversight, nor would the proposal automatically exempt every XRP transaction.
What the SEC Proposal Could Mean for XRP
Ripple's submission arrives after Congress failed to advance broader cryptocurrency market-structure legislation.
The September setback to the CLARITY Act left the industry without the comprehensive statutory framework many companies had sought.
The SEC's rulemaking process offers a separate regulatory path, although its eventual scope would depend on the final language and the agency's legal authority.
Earlier SEC discussions involving XRP highlighted the potential importance of exemptions and investment-contract definitions for digital-asset businesses.
