- Bitnomial to launch XRP futures trading on March 20
- The exchange voluntarily withdrew its lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which it had accused of overreaching jurisdiction over digital asset derivatives in 2024.
- Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced yesterday that the SEC has dropped its litigation against Ripple.
Cryptocurrency exchange Bitnomial has voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as it prepares to roll out XRP futures trading in the United States. In a post on X, Bitnomial said, “Bitnomial will become the first platform in the U.S. to offer CFTC-regulated XRP futures that are physically settled, directly impacting the underlying market. As regulatory clarity progresses, we have voluntarily withdrawn our lawsuit against the SEC.”
🚀 XRP futures are here! 🚀
Bitnomial is launching the first-ever CFTC-regulated $XRP futures in the U.S. — physically settled for real market impact. Plus, we’ve voluntarily dismissed our case against the SEC as regulatory clarity improves. pic.twitter.com/ARkSanjFNU
— Bitnomial (@Bitnomial) March 19, 2025
Trading in XRP futures is scheduled to begin on March 20.
XRP Futures
In August 2024, the Chicago-based platform self-certified XRP futures with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and listed the contracts on its exchange. The SEC intervened, asserting that the exchange should first register as a securities exchange. In response, Bitnomial filed suit against the SEC, arguing that the agency was overextending its jurisdiction into digital asset derivatives and attempting to block CFTC-regulated products.
SEC Litigation Against Ripple Withdrawn
Bitnomial’s announcement follows the news that the SEC has dropped its litigation against Ripple. Yesterday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse posted the development on X, calling it a long-awaited moment. Garlinghouse described the SEC’s withdrawal of its appeal as an overwhelming victory for Ripple and the broader cryptocurrency industry and urged the community to build on this momentum.
This is it – the moment we’ve been waiting for. The SEC will drop its appeal – a resounding victory for Ripple, for crypto, every way you look at it.
The future is bright. Let's build. pic.twitter.com/7WsD0C92Cm
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 19, 2025
Background: In 2020, the SEC sued Ripple Labs, its co-founder Christian Larsen, and CEO Brad Garlinghouse, alleging the sale of XRP amounted to $1.3 billion in unregistered securities offerings. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP sold to the general public, employees, and developers did not constitute securities, delivering a significant win for Ripple. However, the judge found that direct sales to institutional investors did qualify as securities offerings, which led to a penalty order requiring Ripple to pay $125 million for those sales. Ripple filed a cross-appeal against that penalty in October.
The recent developments pushed XRP’s market response higher. At the time of publication, XRP was trading around $2.52, up more than 8% over the prior 24 hours.