Bitnomial Launches US First-Ever XRP Futures After Dropping Lawsuit Against SEC
Chicago-based crypto exchange Bitnomial will debut the first-ever XRP futures trading in the United States today after dropping its lawsuit against the SEC.Things are aligning thick and fast for the XRP ecosystem. A few hours after Ripple's CEO announced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would no longer pursue litigation against the firm, a prominent exchange has announced it would launch the first-ever XRP futures product in the US.On Wednesday, Bitnomial announced the futures contract will launch on its exchange today, allowing users to leverage-trade the asset. The trading platform announced that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would regulate the XRP product, a breakthrough in the assets classification.Bitnomial Voluntarily Drops SEC Lawsuit with LaunchThe launch marks a major milestone for XRP in the United States, as the SEC has taken a friendlier regulatory stance. The trading platform disclosed that the futures contract would be physically settled, meaning it would deliver actual XRP to contract holders instead of a cash settlement upon expiration. A futures contract offers users a legal agreement to buy or sell an underlying asset at a predetermined price on a future date.Notably, Bitnomial filed for the contract with the CFTC in August but faced a roadblock from the US SEC. The regulatory agency mandated the exchange to register as a securities platform, insisting that XRP was a security.This prompted an October lawsuit from Bitnomial for regulatory overreach. Following today's XRP futures contract launch, the Chicago-based exchange announced it has voluntarily dropped the legal proceeding against the SEC.A Win for XRPMeanwhile, the Bitnomial announcement came after the legal battle between Ripple and the SEC finally ended. CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced the resounding victory yesterday, insisting it was overdue.Judge Analisa Torres ruled on the case on August 7, granting both the US SEC and Ripple partial victories. The judgment noted that XRP sales to retailers did not constitute an unregistered security, but an offering to institutional investors does.Meanwhile, the SEC appealed the ruling in January, adding mileage to the already lengthy litigation. After a unanimous agreement, Garlinghouse announced that the regulator would drop its appeal efforts.The cases end has paved the way for broader adoption of XRP, as evident in Bitnomials XRP futures contract announcement a few hours later. Market watchers predict the clarity would not only push the assets prices but catalyze the approvals of investment instruments such as the XRP spot exchange-traded fund.At the time of writing, XRP trades at $2.55, up nearly 12% in the past 24 hours.
Text source: The Crypto Basic
