The US Chamber of Digital Commerce has filed an amicus brief in support of Binance in its legal battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The group argues that the SEC's actions are driving crypto startups offshore and stifling financial innovation. They also claim that the SEC has mislabelled many crypto tokens as unregistered securities and failed to recognise the distinction between the subject of an investment-contract security and the investment contract itself. The SEC has recently levied enforcement actions against several digital asset companies, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken.

Eleanor Terrett, a journalist from Fox News, stated on X platform that sources close to the SEC revealed that although the lawsuit against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen has been dismissed, all other parts of the case, including all quotations and sales categories of XRP as an investment plan, are still pending resolution. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler does not seem to be willing to "surrender without a fight."

Encryption analyst Phyrex posted on X platform, stating: "First of all, it needs to be clear that this rejection was applied by the SEC with the consent of both parties, which means that the SEC rejected its own application... It is believed that this is a comprehensive victory for Ripple, but this is not the case. This is only the SEC giving up the prosecution of two executives, and fines still need to be imposed."

October 20th, Ripple's Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty posted on social media stating that "the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made a serious mistake when charging Brad & Chris individually. Now they have surrendered and dismissed all charges against our executives. This is not a settlement. This is the SEC's surrender." Earlier today, the U.S. SEC dropped all charges against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped claims against two executives of Ripple Labs in its lawsuit alleging the blockchain company violated U.S. securities law. The agency is dropping claims that Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen aided and abetted sales of the cryptocurrency XRP which a judge has found amounted to unregistered sales of securities. The SEC accused Ripple of illegally raising more than $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP in its December 2020 lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres granted Ripple a partial win in the case in July, finding that sales of XRP on public exchanges were not unregistered securities offerings.

Morgan Stanley analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou believe that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may approve multiple spot Bitcoin ETF applications in "several months". The analysts stated that the decision by the SEC not to appeal the Grayscale court ruling has increased "optimism" for such approvals. The report states that the approval time for spot Bitcoin ETFs is still unclear, but it should be completed within a few months, most likely before January 10, 2024, the final deadline for Ark Invest and 21Shares' applications. This is the earliest of various final deadlines that the SEC faces in spot Bitcoin ETF applications.

Gary Gensler, the Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said in an interview that "currently, the SEC has 8 to 10 Bitcoin spot ETF applications that need to be reviewed. These applications are not just formal, they require a lot of consideration from various departments of the SEC, with input from the finance department, and careful review of the submitted materials by the trading and market departments." When asked about the possibility of ETF approval, Gensler replied that he could not comment on the ongoing review and that he personally would not pre-judge the outcome of the process.

Fox journalist Eleanor Terrett posted on X platform (formerly Twitter) that billionaire Musk and Mark Cuban are joining forces to fight the SEC. In a joint non-party opinion statement submitted today, the two expressed support for a thorough reform of the SEC's current administrative procedures, allowing the use of internal judges to preside over cases brought by the SEC itself and prohibiting defendants from the right to a jury trial.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated that the SEC is still considering proposals for a Bitcoin spot ETF.

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its 2024 examination priorities report on October 16th. The agency's examination division has been publishing similar reports for over a decade, informing its registrants about emerging risks that it will focus on, including cryptocurrency trading brokers. The report states that the SEC's examination division has expanded its capabilities and established teams in various programs to address cryptocurrency, fintech, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity issues in 2023. It adds that the SEC continues to monitor broker-dealers and advisors engaged in cryptocurrency work, examining registrants' compliance with conduct standards in customer advice and their understanding of the products offered by registrants, as well as evaluating risk management related to the use of blockchain and distributed ledger technology.