Earlier in September 2023, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) delisted Ripple’s native token, XRP, from its green list. As a result, pro-Ripple lawyer James Murphy fired back, demanding the financial service agency substantiate its reasons for removing the XRP token.
US Lawyer Investigates XRP Delisting
During a recent interview on the Digital Perspectives YouTube crypto channel with host Bradley Kimes, Murphy delved into the latest developments in the court case between XRP and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The pro-Ripple lawyer placed emphasis on Judge Analisa Torres’s court decision in July, where she ruled that programmatic sales of XRP were not classified as securities.
According to Murphy, less than two months after Judge Torres’s ruling, the NYDFS withdrew XRP from its roster of green-listed cryptocurrencies for trading in New York, United States. As a result, crypto investors and traders residing in New York are currently unable to access or trade XRP tokens on any platform licensed to operate within the state.
Expressing his confusion, Murphy revealed that the decision appeared illogical considering the fact that XRP had finally gained regulatory clarity following Judge Torres’s ruling. In an attempt to uncover the motives behind the NYDFS’s actions, the pro-Ripple lawyer filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), urging the NYDFS to disclose information regarding the delisting of XRP from its green list.
“I would like to have every single document, slip of paper, text, voice mail, video chat, or anything else that involves the decision to delist XRP from the green list,” Murphy stated.
Presently, the NYDFS has yet to disclose its precise reasons for delisting XRP. Murphy highlighted that the financial agency has already missed two deadlines, and another is set for January 31.
The lack of transparency from the NYDFS has fueled the pro-Ripple lawyer’s concerns, pushing him to express his readiness to pursue legal action in New York if the NYDFS continues to remain tight-lipped.
Possible External Influence?
Addressing the NYDFS’s removal of XRP from its green list, Murphy suggested a potential influence from external factors in the financial agency’s judgment. The pro-Ripple lawyer has demanded that the NYDFS provide all information regarding communications between them and any governmental or federal agency related to the decision to delist XRP.
Murphy disclosed that his investigation aimed to determine whether the US SEC exerted pressure or had any influence on the NYDFS to push it to delist XRP from its green list. He emphasized the inconsistency of delisting XRP when a federal Judge had already ruled that it should not be considered a security.
“Gary Gensler took the L, he took the loss, a big loss, and an embarrassing loss. But the next thing you know this other state regulator says that now that XRP has acquired clarity and is not a security, we are gonna delist it. This is what we call a non-sequitur. It does not follow,” Murphy said.