Is Ripple (XRP) About To Be Classified As A Security?

Ripple (XRP) continues to be in the news for a whole new discussion evolving around whether the SEC is going to classify it as a security or not. This debate has caught more fire now that the SEC has issued a clear verdict on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), clearly stating that both of them are not securities. Ripple (XRP) despite being the third largest coin was left out of the list. This has investors worried as to the future of Ripple's XRP tokens. Former SEC chairperson, Mary Jo White currently represents Ripple as part of a legal team to help ease tensions with the SEC. If this was any other company, it would have clearly been classified as a security by now. This is because SEC Chairman Clayton has clearly stated that they are not interested in twisting the definition of a security. For the same reason, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have been clearly labelled as utility tokens and not securities. This is because the sale of these coins do not help any particular company. However, with XRP, the purchase of every token helps the company, Ripple. It is too obvious to deny that Ripple (XRP) is not a security. As to why SEC has not come up with a verdict on this yet might have to do with not wanting to harm the blockchain space on behalf of the SEC over more bad news. The blowback from a verdict labelling Ripple (XRP) as a security could be huge and may bring down the entire market with it. Just when many XRP fans thought it couldn't get any worse, Western Union came at Ripple (XRP) guns blazing, openly denying any benefit of using Ripple's X Rapid service. The CEO of Western Union clearly mentioned that they are yet to see any advantage of using XRP and further added that it is in fact far more expensive and hinted that Western Union may not be using it anymore. The CEO also added that he didn't want to hurt the company as they have a talented team working on a project which may have potential in the future. However, it would be right to assume that currently none of Ripple’s partners, including big banks which have XRP fanatics disillusioned and misled for long, are actually using X Rapid. Therefore, any value that XRP currently holds is based on short term hype and speculation instead of solid fundamentals. Also, with coins like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), investors have the added benefit of having actual use cases as well as owning far more decentralized coins. Ripple's price has skyrocketed on what has been hype and speculation for the most part. The price has traded well against Bitcoin (BTC) as it surpassed both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in percent growth last year. Barring extenuatinuating circumstances, the same will most likely follow this year as Ripple (XRP) seems poised for future growth. While some may believe that Ripple’s XRP token is insanely overvalued, it seems to make little difference to mainstream XRP holders who think it is still cheap at a price of  $0.50, down from $3.2 in January this year. Unlike Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) has failed to attract any institutional interest so far. So, most of its investors are retail traders who seldom question the use of XRP but believe that XRP will continue to derive value from Ripple’s success.