U.S. securities regulators on Tuesday sued cryptocurrency giant Ripple, and both its CEO and executive chairman, for allegedly selling unlicensed securities. Ripple on Monday had publicly disclosed that the lawsuit was to be filed imminently.

Why it matters: XRP, the cryptocurrency created by Ripple in 2012, has the crypto industry's third-largest market cap at around $22 billion, behind only Bitcoin and Ether.

Go deeper: Ripple lawsuit could chill crypto industry investment