Ripple, whose XRP token was deemed illegal by the SEC, claims the agency is hiding internal records that would explain its views on crypto assets

• The SEC says Ripple’s XRP is an unregistered security, and exchanges like Coinbase won’t let users trade it.
• But Ripple says XRP is more like Bitcoin and Ether, which generally trade freely.
• Ripple now wants internal SEC records to find out what distinguishes one token from another.

Ripple Labs, whose digital asset XRP is valued at over $20 billion, is demanding in court that the Securities and Exchange Commission turn over internal records explaining its decision to clamp down on the token after years of trading.

The SEC sued Ripple and its leaders Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen last year over their issuance of over $1 billion worth of XRP, a digital asset whose transactions are recorded on a blockchain.

The SEC argues XRP was illegally sold as an unregistered security. But the token began trading in 2013, and the founders claim they have no idea why the SEC targeted Ripple instead of the many other digital assets out there. After the regulator filed its lawsuit, exchanges like Coinbase suspended trading of XRP and the token’s value plummeted.