• Bank of America (BAC) recently called for a regulatory framework to support mainstream adoption of digital assets and institutional engagement.
• In a recent ruling, the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York decided that Ripple Labs’ sale of XRP tokens on exchanges and through algorithms did not constitute investment contracts.
• However, the court did find that the institutional sale of these tokens violated federal securities laws.
Bank Of America Calls For Regulatory Framework
In a recent research report, Bank of America (BAC) has underscored the need for a comprehensive regulatory framework to facilitate the mainstream adoption of digital assets and accommodate increased institutional engagement.
SEC Lawsuit Against Ripple Labs
Ambiguity remains in understanding the implications for XRP offerings after Ripple ruling. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, however, it achieved partial victory when the court ruled that its sale of XRP token on exchanges and through algorithms did not constitute investment contracts.
Ruling Based On Unregistered Offer & Sale To Institutional Investors
The judge’s ruling was based on the premise that Ripple’s programmatic sale of XRP on digital asset exchanges did not involve an unregistered offer and sale to investment contracts as an initial unregistered offering and sale to institutional investors had already taken place which subsequently led to the creation of a market.
Industry Welcomed Ruling But Challenges Remain
The digital asset industry welcomed this ruling by U.S District Court however some ambiguity remained in fully understanding its implications due to its uniqueness as compared to other legal cases related to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum which are classified as commodities by regulators rather than securities like XRP tokens in this case .
Need For Differentiating Between Crypto Tokens & Tokenized Assets
The bank emphasizes the need to differentiate between blockchain-native crypto tokens and tokenized traditional assets for better clarity while crafting regulations for such digital assets so that they can be adopted by mainstream users without any hindrance or fear from legal complications later on .