With the cryptocurrency market still awaiting the end of the legal battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple, some members of the XRP community seem to be losing their patience, while others are drawing parallels between this and the cases against crypto trading platform Coinbase and the blockchain-based sharing platform LBRY.
Specifically, pro-XRP lawyers Bill Morgan and John E. Deaton have both urged XRP supporters to refrain from contacting the presiding judge Analisa Torres or anyone else associated with the case, arguing that “no good can come from it,” as Deaton himself pointed out in a tweet on July 9.
According to Morgan, whoever contacts the judge on the matter, can expect the wrath of the XRP community worse than that against the SEC chief Gary Gensler, crypto exchange Coinbase, and the co-founder of Ethereum (ETH) and ConsenSys Joseph Lubin combined.
Blue Sky laws
Earlier, lawyer Jeremy Hogan referred to the case against Coinbase, in which “the SEC’s Coinbase opposition brief, just like in the Ripple case, tries to run away from the State ‘Blue Sky’ laws which pre-dated the legislation establishing the SEC,” as he referred to the specific parts of the SEC’s response.
In Hogan’s words, the problem with this is that “the Howey case itself explicitly pulls from and states that the State case authority is relevant,” as he said while retweeting a post by Coinbase’s chief legal officer (CLO) Paul Grewal, who expressed disappointment over the SEC’s opposition to the exchange’s motion to dismiss the case.
Unconstitutional ‘burden shifting’
At the same time, Deaton has also highlighted the SEC’s “unconstitutional ‘burden-shifting,’” specifying that the SEC argued that XRP holders and holders of LBRY Credits (LBC), the token offered by the company also sued by the regulator, had nothing to worry “because of the argument that Section 4 Exemptions apply to token holders.”
However, as he explained, “Section 4 Exemptions apply ONLY to securities, and once something is deemed a security, the burden shifts to prove an exemption applies. I describe that as unconstitutional “burden shifting” when applied to secondary sales.” Hence:
“That’s why I argued to Judge Torres in my amicus brief that the SEC’s argument that XRP holders lack standing to be heard is without merit. It’s also why I hope the judge in LBRY does what he promised to do when he renders his next Opinion and Order.”
Meanwhile, the XRP token that is at the center of the ongoing lawsuit that could have massive implications for the crypto space was at press time changing hands at the price of $0.47, down 0.42% on the day, 2.62% across the week, and 4.91% on its monthly chart, according to information retrieved by Finbold on July 10.
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