A document circulating in the XRP community suggests that the token has been registered as a commodity with the U.S. CFTC.
Popular community figure Xaif recently shared the document, claiming that XRP has “officially” been listed as a commodity under CFTC Events Contracts.
This claim stems from XRP’s description as a crypto asset commodity. The description has sparked widespread speculation, with some users, including Xaif, asserting that XRP is a commodity rather than a security.
The product, which launched on February 14, is a type of swap that allows users to speculate on XRP’s price over a short timeframe of 20 minutes or two hours.
Not an Official CFTC Declaration
Even though the filing treated XRP as a commodity for the derivative product, it is not an official declaration from the CFTC. This description is similar to how some asset managers, like Bitwise, characterized XRP as a commodity-based trust in their spot ETF applications.
Importantly, the debate over whether XRP is a security or a commodity originated from the lawsuit between the U.S. SEC and Ripple, which has now ended.
During the early stages of the case, the commission alleged that XRP was a security. However, a federal judge dismissed this claim, declaring that XRP is not a security in itself.
The SEC never challenged this declaration, despite appealing some parts of the judge’s ruling. Meanwhile, neither the SEC nor the CFTC has specifically defined XRP’s regulatory status.
In the meantime, the current SEC leadership, headed by Paul Atkins, believes that most crypto assets are not securities. This deviates from the views of the Gary Gensler-led SEC, which considered only Bitcoin a non-security.
Amid the SEC’s changing stance, the Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets recently suggested that the CFTC should regulate cryptocurrencies classified as commodities.