As mentioned in a post several weeks ago, SEC may take some time to take action against those who are not compliant to public offering regulations, but eventually it does. Ripple is the latest crypto-company that is expecting to face a lawsuit, for their ICO.

Although Ripple insists XRP is a currency, rather than a security, pretty much like Bitcoin or Ethereum, the fact that there was an ICO, classifies XRP as a security. To be treated as a currency, XRP should be mined and offered for sale by the miners, not Ripple.

These news explain XRP price going down by nearly 17% in one day, as those holding XRPs are in fear that Ripple will lose or settle with the SEC. Although this doesn't mean that any lawsuit will affect XRP, it will certainly affect any future plans Ripple may have for their coin.

Ripple has implied it is looking to move their headquarters in the UK, however this won't change the legal status of the ICO, since the country of origin of the company conducting an unregistered public offering makes no difference to the SEC.