The legal battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and crypto firm Ripple has extended into the third year, but the end may be in sight.
Indeed, after both parties made final submissions, Ripple and the SEC, alongside other interested participants, have since presented summary briefings likely to influence the case outcome.
Before the final briefings, defense attorney James Filan revealed that Ripple had filed a motion opposing a filing by Investment Banker Declarant seeking to protect certain information from the public.
Part of the information includes his name, position, and employer. According to the declarant, he should be protected because he voluntarily submitted the declaration supporting the SEC’s summary judgment motion.
Notably, Finbold had earlier reported that Investment Banker Declarant, a non-party in the case, had submitted a motion aiming to redact a previous declaration backing the regulator’s prayer for summary judgment.
Points of contention
As the community awaits the final ruling, some points of contention will center around which documents the court might rule to seal, considering the issue has resulted in a fierce battle between involved entities. Similarly, of interest will be if the parties can reach a settlement after the ruling to avoid any further appeals.
With the full briefing of the case having been made, the development has reignited speculation about the possible outcome. Notably, both parties are expressing confidence in emerging victorious.
However, U.S. lawyer John Deaton has noted that a clear ruling cannot be predicted based on the submissions made in court. In response to online speculation that the case might go the SEC’s way, Deaton, in a tweet on January 20, reminded the crypto community that they can pick a hint on what to expect from the SEC’s handling of the matter.
“I hear all these XRP haters say the case is so simple and easy for the SEC and that XRP is clearly a security, but no one has an answer. If XRP was so clearly a security, why didn’t the SEC order Ripple to stop selling it after SEC enforcement lawyers analyzed it in June 2018?” he posed.
No clear judgment date
It is worth noting that the SEC is suing Ripple for selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP tokens without following the agency’s laid-down laws. At the moment, there remains speculation regarding the possible judgment date, although Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse suggested that the case could be finalized in the first half of 2023.
It is clear that the outcome of this case will have significant implications for the crypto industry. In this line, Ripple general counsel Stuart Alderoty warned that the ruling could have a far-reaching impact on the U.S. digital asset space.
In the meantime, despite the uncertainty surrounding the case outcome, Ripple has expressed confidence it has done everything right. Consequently, the company maintains its committed to expanding its core business globally away from the U.S.
Indeed, the case development is expected to significantly impact the value of XRP, which has earned some bullish triggers from the matter. By press time, the token was valued at $0.43 with daily gains of over 4%.
XRP currently controls a market cap of about $21.53 billion.
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