A US judge has delivered its verdict in the SEC's lawsuit against decentralized content platform LBRY.
The judge ruled that there was a violation of securities laws in the initial issuance of LBRY. In fact, the decision took the form of ratification of the agreement reached after an appeal hearing. The SEC initially offered the deal for $22 million, but later revised that figure to $111,000, taking into account LBRY's financial situation.
The decision made a binary distinction regarding the sale of LBRY's token LBC.
While the judge held that the LBC had violated the securities laws at the time of its initial issuance, that is, its sale directly by the issuing company, it did not rule on whether the subsequent trading of the LBC between traders on the exchanges violated the securities laws.
After this dual separation, speculation about the Ripple case has also increased. Lawyers, who think that the LBRY case can set a precedent for the Ripple case, stated that there will be no 100% win or 100% loss in the case, there are areas where Ripple can win and lose.
Evaluating the Court's LBRY decision, Attorney Jeremy Hogan stated that it was disappointing that the judge made a decision without fully understanding the issues related to cryptocurrencies, and that this decision did not provide sufficient guidance on whether cryptocurrencies are securities.
Lawyer John E. Deaton said it was “better than nothing” that the court did not qualify the sale of LBRY in the secondary markets as a “violation of securities laws” and did not express an opinion on the matter.
Ripple CTO David Schwartz stated that it is a victory that the normal use of the LBC token is not considered a violation of securities laws.
It's at least a victory that it was made clear that ordinary use of the token doesn't violate the injunction.
— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) July 12, 2023
