Ripple’s win over the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had a hidden weapon. Attorney John Deaton says nearly 4,000 XRP holders helped swing the case by telling their stories to the court.

Deaton represented those holders as a friend of the court. He shared how they shaped the outcome, with the revelation coming only days after the ruling turned three years old.

The Judge Read the Holders’ Stories

Judge Analisa Torres issued her order on July 13, 2023. XRP itself is not a security, she ruled. However, $728.9 million in direct sales to institutions broke securities law. Sales to everyday buyers on exchanges did not.

Ripple paid a $125 million fine in 2024. The case formally closed in August 2025, when both sides dropped their appeals. The fight almost killed the company first. CEO Brad Garlinghouse admits Ripple nearly shut down rather than face the SEC in court.

So where do the holders come in?

Deaton collected sworn statements from almost 4,000 of them. By his account, Torres cited those statements in her decision and very little else.

“Out of the thousands of exhibits submitted in the case overall, in her final summary judgment decision, she only cited to several dozens exhibits. XRP holder affidavits was one of those exhibits,” Deaton finally revealed.

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He says the judge also cited his amicus brief and his courtroom exchange in the LBRY case, another SEC crypto lawsuit.

Why Small Holders Made a Big Difference

John Deaton made one simple argument. XRP is just computer code. Code cannot be a security on its own, even if someone sells it like one.

He pointed to orange groves, and that choice was no accident. The Howey test, which is the standard for determining whether something is a security, stems from a 1946 Supreme Court case about Florida orange groves. The groves were sold as investments, yet the fruit itself was never a security. Torres took the same view on XRP.

Meanwhile, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty marked the anniversary with a celebratory post declaring an unofficial holiday in honor of the ruling.

The token itself has less to celebrate. XRP traded near $1.08 at press time, down about 3% in a day, per BeInCrypto Markets data.

Still, the ruling shapes US crypto policy today, and Congress is now weighing crypto market structure rules. The bigger lesson may be simpler. Ordinary XRP holders showed up, and a federal judge listened.

Source: BeInCrypto