Airdrop Army

Bitnomial, the Chicago-based crypto exchange, isn’t sitting quiet. They fired back against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 10, throwing a major lawsuit into the digital currency cosmos. The crux? The SEC claiming XRP is a security—but Bitnomial thinks otherwise.

The exchange insists that XRP’s already under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) radar, marked as a commodity. Bitnomial claimed, “The SEC asserts jurisdiction over a product that is already regulated by the CFTC.” This overlap isn’t just a headache, it’s a regulatory mess because Bitnomial says the SEC’s power grab is making it tough to operate.

XRP Futures Gridlocked by SEC

In August, Bitnomial went ahead and filed a self-certification to list XRP futures contracts, a bold move that caught eyes. But the SEC wasn’t thrilled. Instead of greenlighting the move, they swooped in and demanded Bitnomial register as a securities exchange before letting those futures hit the market.

Bitnomial isn’t having it. They argued that they “cannot possibly comply” because Ripple Labs, the company behind XRP, has not registered XRP as a security. It’s like being stuck in regulatory quicksand with no way out. So, XRP futures? Still in limbo, thanks to the SEC’s enforcement cloud looming large.

And it doesn’t stop there. Bitnomial pointed out that the SEC’s legal action against Ripple saw a major twist when Judge Torres ruled XRP sold on secondary markets isn’t a security. But, the SEC’s not giving up, planning to appeal that decision because it still wants XRP under its grasp.

Seeking to Break Free From the SEC Hold

Bitnomial’s calling for clarity. They want a declaratory ruling that XRP futures aren’t securities and a block to keep the SEC from going after them. This battle isn’t just about Bitnomial. It’s about how digital assets get classified in this Wild West of regulations.

Meanwhile, others are watching closely. Crypto.com is also in hot water with the SEC after a Wells notice, and Canary Capital’s move to launch an XRP ETF brings even more heat to the conversation. This battle’s far from over.