The post XRP News: How U.S. Prosecutors Are Redefining ‘Crime’ to Strangle Crypto appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, a cornerstone of the $3 trillion cryptocurrency market, faces an unprecedented legal threat: U.S. prosecutors are wielding a 75-year-old anti-money transmission law to target software developers who never touch user funds, according to Crypto Law and pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton. Even as XRP news around the Ripple vs SEC case takes a turn for the good, regulatory clarity seems too much to ask from regulators. The Ripple Effect: From XRP to a Systemic Crackdown In December 2020, the SEC sued Ripple Labs, it was one of the biggest XRP news. SEC alleged Ripple’s XRP token was an unregistered security. But the case took a broader turn when the agency claimed XRP itself—not just Ripple’s sales—violated securities laws. Pro-XRP attorney John Deaton, founder of CryptoLaw, represented 75,000 XRP holders in the ongoing lawsuit, calling the SEC’s approach a “dangerous overreach.” The crypto industry initially dismissed the Ripple case as isolated. That changed in 2023 when the SEC filed similar charges against Coinbase and Kraken, claiming tokens like Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) were securities. The pattern revealed a widening regulatory net. Chokepoint 2.0 and the Fed’s Crypto Clampdown Parallel to the SEC’s actions, regulators launched “Chokepoint 2.0,” a campaign to restrict crypto firms’ access to banking services, wrote Deaton. Custodia Bank, led by CEO Caitlin Long, fought the Federal Reserve after its master account application was denied in 2023—a move Long called “anti-innovation.” – Advertisement – While SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s recent departure hinted at potential relief, the Department of Justice (DOJ) escalated its own battle. Its target: developers of noncustodial privacy tools like Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet. At the heart of the DOJ’s cases is Section 1960 of Title 18, a 1940s-era law requiring money transmitters to register with FinCEN. In 2019, FinCEN clarified…

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Filed under: News - @ February 4, 2025 12:25 am