On March 17, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) jointly issued a regulatory framework that officially classified XRP as a “digital commodity.” The designation is arguably the most significant regulatory pivot in the asset’s history, putting XRP on the same legal footing as Bitcoin and Ethereum, effectively ending the securities controversy that has dogged Ripple Labs since 2020. With the “security” label removed, regulation of the XRP spot market is now primarily under the jurisdiction of the CFTC, clearing the way for standardized institutional offerings and potential ETF approval later this month.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins noted that the framework ends a decade of uncertainty that has plagued the industry. By formally recognizing that the token’s value is derived from network utility and supply and demand mechanisms, rather than managing profit expectations, the agency effectively validates Ripple’s long-term defense.
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The new 68-page joint guidance goes beyond the patchy clarity provided by federal courts over the past three years. Although U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled in July 2023 that secondary sales of XRP did not qualify as securities, operational friction from the ambiguity of “investment contracts” still affects institutions. The new framework explicitly lists XRP as a commodity along with 15 other assets, indicating that the network is fully decentralized.
This adjustment marks a clear departure from the SEC’s previous “enforcement supervision” strategy. By relinquishing jurisdiction over the token’s asset status, the regulator removes concerns about future forfeiture fines similar to those sought in the original 2020 complaint. For Ripple, this is not only a moral victory, but also a structural release valve.
Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty welcomed the clarity and praised the SEC’s crypto working group for finally aligning policy with market reality. This classification removes the legal basis for restricted trading environments that limit XRP’s liquidity in the U.S. market compared to its global footprint. We suspect that after five years of litigation, the move to commodity status feels less like a victory and more like a belated correction.
The immediate downstream impact of the commodity status is to reduce risk for custody services and exchange listings. Prior to 2026, compliance departments at major financial institutions viewed XRP as radioactive due to the lingering threat of facilitating the sale of unregistered securities. As primary regulation shifts to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the compliance burden shifts from securities registration to commodity reporting—a standard that is easier for traditional finance to master.
