CZ says Binance stood by XRP throughout the SEC case

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has reiterated that the exchange continued to support XRP trading throughout Ripple Labs’ prolonged legal fight with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a recent post on the social media platform X, CZ clarified that Binance never delisted XRP despite intense regulatory scrutiny and widespread caution across the crypto industry.

“We never delisted XRP,” CZ said, responding to renewed public interest after Ripple’s latest legal developments.

His remarks follow news that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has said the firm is ending its cross-appeal against the SEC, another sign that it is seeking closure to its multi-year-long legal battle.

The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, claiming that the sale of XRP by the company was an unregistered securities offering. In its wake, many of the most popular US-based crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase, Bittrex, Kraken (for US customers), Bitstamp, and eToro, promptly halted or delisted trading in XRP to get ahead of any regulatory clampdown.

It was trivial for any DEX that had previously listed the token to continue to do so, with one exception: Uniswap’s DEX, Uniswap V2, the world’s most popular exchange at the time, delisted the token in early 2021. 

However, Binance, the exchange’s global arm, still listed XRP during the litigation. Because Binance did not fall under US regulators’ purview, it came under less pressure to follow the SEC’s guidance. This difference permitted users worldwide to trade XRP even as the case unfolded in American courts.

XRP boosted Binance volumes despite legal pressure

CZ’s decision to keep XRP listed on Binance—and the rationale behind supporting it—went beyond geographic considerations. XRP was one of the primary traded coins on Binance, giving them a large trading volume and fee revenue.

According to one Binance analyst, XRP was still a highly sought-after asset, and the decision to delist XRP would have adversely affected both its traders and the exchange. However, Mr Powell said there was no reason to eliminate it.

An industry observer said that by ensuring customers can buy, sell, and hold XRP, Binance had affirmed its position as “no. 1 global XRP spot trading destination” despite bureaucrats in the US not determining whether the token is a security. The observer noted that it was a calculated risk that ended up giving Binance a competitive advantage, especially after Ripple’s partial legal victory in July 2023.

That ruling, issued by US District Judge Analisa Torres, found that programmatic sales of XRP via public exchanges did not constitute securities sales, a victory for Ripple and the broader cryptocurrency industry. Since that ruling, some exchanges have tentatively relisted XRP.

Ripple sees institutional adoption after tech upgrades

Legal controversies have not stopped Ripple from growing its ecosystem and interest from top institutions. In reality, XRP Ledger (XRPL), the underlying blockchain of XRP, has been quietly and slowly growing for years.

Top digital asset companies such as Ondo Finance and Guggenheim have indicated they would be interested in issuing tokenized real-world assets on XRPL. These initiatives happen when blockchain technology faces a serious facelift regarding scalability, interoperability, and compliance requirements.

Ripple has also announced its brand of stablecoin efforts. Its new dollar-backed stablecoin (1:1), RLUSD, has had over 12 million minted, indicating the company’s direction towards tangible real-world utility and institutional-grade financial infrastructure.