XRP Las Vegas Bombshell: Lawyers Say XRP Does Not Need the Clarity Act

• At XRP Las Vegas, lawyers who won the XRP case against the SEC said XRP does not need the Clarity Act to advance.
• The federal court ruled that XRP itself is not a security, and the SEC and CFTC last month designated it as a commodity token. 
• The crypto sector is shifting to treasury tools like Clear Connect, where usage builds first, and prices follow.

On May 1, 2026, in a bombshell XRP Las Vegas panel, lawyers John Deaton and James Murphy, who defeated the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), declared XRP already possesses full regulatory clarity as a commodity and needs no Clarity Act. 

Ripple Treasury’s new digital asset framework is now powering live cross-border and intercompany settlements with XRP and RLUSD on the XRPL. At the same time, global banks and the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) are accelerating adoption regardless of Washington politics.

Lawyers Say XRP Does Not Need the Clarity Act

At the recent XRP Las Vegas conference, prominent Ripple lawyers John Deaton and James Murphy, who led the landmark victory against the SEC, addressed the proposed Clarity Act during a high-profile panel. In a direct lightning-round Q&A, both attorneys stated unequivocally that XRP already has the regulatory clarity it needs and does not require the Clarity Act to move forward.

When asked whether the bill would pass before the midterms, the panel of lawyers said “no.” Murphy, described as the group’s optimist, said the Senate Banking Committee markup would need to happen by mid-May or “it is not gonna happen,” while Deaton stated that if it does not pass this Congress, “it is dead.”

Federal Court Ruled XRP Itself as Not a Security

On July 13, 2023, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled in SEC v. Ripple Labs that XRP, as a digital token, is not itself a security. Applying the Howey test, the court held that XRP does not inherently constitute a “contract, transaction, or scheme” representing an investment contract, shifting the analysis away from the asset itself and toward the circumstances of its sale.

The court found institutional sales met the Howey test because they involved direct contracts and profit expectations tied to Ripple’s efforts, classifying them as securities. However, programmatic exchange sales and blind bid-ask transactions did not, since buyers had no direct relationship with Ripple or relied on its efforts, thereby rejecting the SEC’s token-as-security argument. 

What’s Next for the token?

Notably, the crypto sector is shifting toward practical treasury tools like Clear Connect, where usage and integration come first, with market prices following later. Ripple’s 2026 survey of more than 1,000 global finance leaders found that 72% believe they must offer digital asset solutions to remain competitive. 

Meanwhile, Ripple Treasury’s GTreasury platform now embeds XRP and RLUSD accounts, enabling real-time cross-border and intercompany settlements for Fortune 500 clients. Ripple Prime revenue tripled in Q1 2026, XRPL hit 3M daily transactions, and tokenized assets exceeded $474M, with $1.5B in total ledger representation.

Furthermore, DTCC’s planned tokenization service rollout in the second half of 2026, combined with Ripple Prime’s integration into DTCC clearing infrastructure, could accelerate institutional pilots for cross-border and intercompany settlements on the XRPL.

Therefore, as corporate treasury integration accelerates, XRP’s path forward centers on converting Ripple’s $13 trillion annual legacy payment pipeline, currently 0% on-chain, into blockchain rails via the newly launched Digital Asset Framework, launched on April 1, 2026.

Related: Ripple Survey: 72% of Firms Say Digital Assets Are Now Essential