The legal dispute between Ripple Labs, Inc. and th

The legal dispute between Ripple Labs, Inc. and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) witnessed a surprising development as Better Markets, Inc., a prominent nonprofit dedicated to promoting public interest in financial markets, filed an amicus curiae brief on January 22. This latest submission to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vehemently supports the SEC’s appeal against a prior district court decision, which narrowly defined the term “investment contract” and its applicability to XRP.

In the brief, Better Markets criticizes the district court’s interpretation of the Howey test, traditionally used to determine whether a transaction qualifies as an investment contract and thus a security. According to Better Markets, the lower court’s ruling improperly excluded XRP tokens sold through secondary markets from securities regulation, focusing narrowly on the direct purchase from the issuer as a criterion for classification.