Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said XRP (XRP) has legal clarity under a federal court ruling, as a failed Senate procedural vote kept a wider U.S. digital-asset bill from advancing to debate.
Nasdaq trading in Evernorth Holdings Inc. shares began Oct. 12, and Garlinghouse spoke during the company’s Oct. 14 closing-bell ceremony. The court order distinguished XRP itself from the circumstances of specific sales.
On Sept. 15, the Senate voted 49-50 to reject cloture on a motion to proceed to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (H.R. 3633), with one senator not voting. The procedural result stopped that motion from advancing, but was not a vote on final passage.
In a July 13, 2023, summary-judgment order in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Ripple, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres assessed sales by category. The court found Ripple’s institutional sales under written contracts violated Section 5 as unregistered investment-contract transactions. It found programmatic exchange sales did not meet Howey’s third element. The order did not resolve whether secondary-market sales were offers or sales of investment contracts, a question the court said depends on the circumstances of each transaction.
The SEC’s March 2026 interpretation lists XRP as an example of a digital commodity. It says a crypto asset that is not itself a security may still be offered or sold subject to an investment contract. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued related guidance. The interpretation also separates an asset’s status from the terms under which it is sold.
Ripple said after the vote that the legislation could have given consumers and market participants more durable rules and described XRP’s legal status as an advantage for the company. It attributed the setback to political dynamics, banking interests and narrower industry interests. Ripple said it would continue advocating for market-structure legislation and engaging with regulators, while identifying agency rulemaking as a near-term focus.
