New York Regulator Removes XRP From 'Greenlist'; Ripple Lawyer Teases Big Announcement This Week

New York's financial regulator, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), wants cryptocurrencies regulated in the state and has announced an update to its virtual currency oversight, which includes the removal of at least 25 crypto assets from its greenlist of approved tokens, including Ripple Labs' XRP.

The update on the "Two-Year Transformational Initiative to Strengthen NYDFS' Nation Leading Virtual Currency Oversight" removed several previously approved crypto assets from the greenlist, including XRP, Dogecoin and Litecoin. Eight other tokens, including Bitcoin, Ether and PayPal Dollar, remained on the list.

In the past, the NYDFS created the token greenlist as part of its supervision of the cryptocurrency industry.

The previous guidance, which is currently being updated, allowed firms licensed by NYDFS via its virtual currency program to gain approval to custody and list their tokens with the help of the regulator's self-certification system.

The removal of 25 crypto assets from the NYDFS' greenlist means the tokens no longer have the approval of the agency and are not cleared to be listed on cryptocurrency exchange platforms. Listing them could draw scrutiny not only from the NDFS but also from other financial regulators.

The delisting could also negatively impact the value of the delisted crypto asset, which is usually the case in the cryptocurrency industry.

"Since joining DFS, I have made it a priority to ensure the Department's regulatory and operational capabilities keep pace with industry developments to protect consumers and markets," Superintendent Adrienne Harris said.

"In less than two years, we've built our team to over sixty experienced professionals, created and enhanced consumer and industry safeguards, and engaged with policymakers around the world – including with the U.S. Congress to help ensure there is a federal prudential regulator to supervise the industry," the NYDFS honcho added.

Meanwhile, Crypto Law founder and XRP holders' lawyer John Deaton teased that a major announcement will be made this coming Friday but clarified that it will not have anything to do with suing someone.

The lawyer who represented a significant number of XRP token holders in the legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not provide any details that would clue in the community about the said announcement, which led to speculations, including that the announcement could be related to crypto-linked legal issues.

The XRP community is currently waiting for a "proper party" to celebrate its landmark victory, scheduled for Sept. 29 in New York City.

Ripple Labs CTO David Schwartz, while not giving up anything about the grand celebration, confirmed that two things will happen at the event.

As of 3:41 a.m. ET on Tuesday, XRP, the native currency of the Ripple blockchain, was trading up at $0.5052 with a 24-hour trading volume up by 71.6% at $1,009,320,035, representing a 2.47% increase in the last 24 hours and a 6.6% gain over the past seven days.

Based on the latest data from CoinMarketCap, XRP's total circulating supply stands at 553,175,400,720 XRP, with its value up by 2.47% at a $26,866,621,743 market cap.