As the crypto community awaits the date for the final ruling in the case between blockchain firm Ripple and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the matter continues to witness new developments from interested parties.
In particular, the court has granted a motion by lawyer Lewis Cohen to appear in the case on behalf of cryptocurrency venture capitalist firm Paradigm, defense lawyer James Filan revealed in a tweet on December 28.
Notably, Cohen had filed the motion to appear Pro Hac Vice, meaning he wanted to be enjoined in the matter in a jurisdiction where he was not licensed to practice.
In his motion, Cohen, who also co-authored “The Ineluctable Modality of Securities Law: Why Fungible Crypto Assets are Not Securities,” stressed that there are no pending disciplinary proceedings against him in any state.
It is worth mentioning that Paradigm has played a part in Ripple’s past minor wins in the case that have led to projections that the blockchain firm might win the case. Indeed, Paradigm filed an amicus brief to boost Ripple’s defense in the high-profile lawsuit.
Ripple v. SEC updates
As the case stretches into the third year, both parties have since filed final submissions, although initial rumors indicated that the matter could have been resolved on December 15.
The regulator has come under criticism for filing a motion seeking to seal several documents in the case. SEC wants to seal documents in categories of names and identifying information of the SEC’s experts and XRP investor declarants, personal and financial information, and internal SEC documents reflecting debate and deliberation by SEC officials.
Part of the criticism has accused SEC of corruption for failing to go after actors like the now collapsed FTX crypto exchange.
In the meantime, with pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton projecting, the final ruling could be made either April or May next year; Nicole Tatz, an attorney representing the co-defendants in the lawsuit, submitted a motion to withdraw.
Per Tatz’s submissions, she pointed out that other attorneys at the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP would continue to be the counsel of record for Ripple CEO Bradley Garlinghouse.
The case outcome is highly expected to have ramifications on the crypto sector, especially the value of XRP. Notably, SEC is suing Ripple for illegally selling over $1.3 billion worth of XRP tokens as securities between 2013 and December 2020.
XRP price analysis
At the moment, XRP is trading at $0.35, having corrected by over 3% in the last 24 hours. Overall, the token has been in the consolidation phase, unable to make a decisive move in either direction.
Overall, XRP investors are likely monitoring the token’s performance, considering that it’s not immune to the general market effects besides the cases.
