XRP traded near $1.00, roughly flat over the past 24 hours, a muted move that comes days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new framework called Regulation Crypto Assets. If adopted, the rules would give token issuers a written route to raise money legally and, eventually, to exit securities treatment entirely.

TODAY: The SEC proposed new rules, “Regulation Crypto Assets,” that would create a clear and fit-for-purpose framework for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets. pic.twitter.com/SAA2sErMXF

— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) August 18, 2026

The tension the market is pricing in is straightforward: XRP now has more regulatory clarity than at any point in its history, yet nothing about its status is permanently settled. The proposal remains just that — a proposal — open for public comment, revision, and possible legal or congressional pushback before it becomes binding. For XRP holders and for the wider U.S. crypto market, that matters because the SEC’s framework would not only affect one token; it would help define how projects can raise capital and when, if ever, they can move out from under securities rules.

The Ripple Fight That Forced the Question

The regulatory vacuum this proposal is designed to fill has a long history, and Ripple Labs sat at its center. The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020 under then-Chairman Jay Clayton, alleging the company raised capital through unregistered sales of XRP.

A federal court later found that Ripple’s institutional sales of XRP violated Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933, while other secondary offers and sales did not, and ordered the company to pay a civil penalty exceeding $125 million. Both sides appealed.

On May 8, 2025, the SEC announced a settlement calling for the return of more than $75 million held in escrow to Ripple and the vacating of the court’s injunction. SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw dissented in a public statement, arguing the deal undermines the court’s order and rests on what she called a non-existent framework that might never materialize.

That dissent is worth remembering now, because the framework Crenshaw doubted has since taken shape. The Ripple case was formally closed in August 2025, clearing the way for the broader crypto regulation debate to move from courtrooms to rulemaking, where issuers, investors, and policymakers can now weigh the same questions under a proposed rule rather than a litigation record.

What XRP’s Price Says About the Uncertainty

XRP’s level near $1 sits well below its July 2025 all-time high of $3.65, and the token’s flat reaction to Tuesday’s proposal suggests traders are treating it as partial clarity rather than resolution. That reading is consistent with how XRP’s price has tracked pending legislation rather than moving decisively on any single headline. Markets, in other words, are waiting for a final rule, not a draft.

The evidence confirms XRP has a clearer written path than it did during active litigation, and the SEC’s own commissioners have publicly disagreed about whether that path represents sound policy or a retreat from enforcement.

What remains unconfirmed is whether Regulation Crypto Assets survives its 60-day comment period intact, whether Congress finalizes the CLARITY Act’s tokenization provisions, and whether XRP itself would satisfy the proposal’s managerial-cessation test. Until a final rule is published, XRP’s safe harbor is a draft, not a deed.

Source: 99Bitcoins