Ripple’s SEC win had a hidden weapon. Attorney John Deaton says nearly 4,000 XRP holders helped change the case by telling their stories to the court.
Deaton represented these holders as amicus curiae. He shared with us how they shaped the outcome, as the revelation came just days after three years of the ruling.
The judge read the owners’ stories
It was issued by Judge Analisa Torres to request on July 13, 2023. It ruled that XRP itself is not a security. However, $728.9 million of direct sales to institutions violated securities law. Sales to daily buyers on exchanges did not.
Ripple paid a $125 million fine in 2024. The case was officially filed It closed in August 2025When both sides fell Appeals. The fighting nearly killed the company first. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse admits Almost closed Instead of facing the SEC in court.
Where do their owners come from?
Deaton collected sworn statements from about 4,000 of them. By his account, Torres cited these statements in her decision and very little else.
“Of the thousands of pieces of evidence presented in the case overall, in the final summary judgment decision, I only cited several dozen pieces of evidence. XRP holder statements were one of those pieces of evidence,” Deaton said. open.
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He says the judge also cited his amicus brief and courtroom exchange in the LBRY case, another cryptocurrency-related SEC lawsuit.
Why have smallholders made such a big difference?
John Deaton made one simple argument. XRP is just a computer code. The code cannot be a guarantee in itself, even if someone sells one like it.
He pointed to orange groves, and this choice was not a coincidence. the Amateur testthe standard for determining whether something is a security, stems from a 1946 Supreme Court case regarding orange groves in Florida. Orchards were sold as investments, but the fruit itself was never a guarantee. Torres took the same view on XRP.
Meanwhile, Stuart Alderotti, Ripple’s chief legal officer, marked the anniversary with a celebratory post declaring an unofficial holiday in honor of the ruling.
The token itself has nothing to celebrate. XRP It traded near $1.08 At press time, it was down about 3% in one day, according to BeInCrypto Markets data.
However, the ruling shapes US cryptocurrency policy today, and Congress is now evaluating it Crypto market structure rules. The biggest lesson may be simpler. Ordinary XRP holders showed up, and a federal judge listened.
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