It is worth noting that the United States regulator sued the blockchain company for illegally selling over $1.3 billion worth of XRP tokens. According to the SEC, the tokens were securities during the sale between 2013 and December 2020. At the moment, both parties have filed their final submissions, hinting that the conclusion date might be near. Ahead of the final ruling, defense lawyer James Filan revealed that the SEC had made another submission seeking to seal some documents. In particular, the regulator wants to seal documents in three categories, including 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. Notably, Ripple recorded another win after the court denied the SEC’s request to remove the consulting firms’ names that helped assemble expert witnesses. However, following SEC’s request to seal the documents, the agency has come under sharp criticism facing allegations of corruption. Previously, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had accused SEC of failing to go after entities like FTX, whose founder Sam Bankman-Fried is facing allegations of fraud in the trading platform’s collapse.
Ripple’s wins
Interestingly, in the course of the hearing, Ripple registered minor wins after the presiding judge overruled SEC’s attempt to withhold the documents relating to former Division Director William Hinman. According to the documents, in 2018, Hinman had referred to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as not securities. Indeed, the SEC has maintained that the documents are confidential and entail internal deliberations. At the same time, both XRP and Ripple filed a joint motion seeking an extension until January 13, 2023. The two entities filed the Daubert Motions (motions raised before or during the trial, aiming to exclude the presentation of unqualified evidence) and accompanying exhibits on the public docket with redactions consistent with the court’s sealing ruling. As reported by Finbold, pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton projected that the final ruling could be made either April or May next year. Additionally, lawyer Rodrigo Seira had filed a request to appear as pro hac vice (an attorney counsel from another jurisdiction) on behalf of the crypto-focused investment firm Paradigm Operations LP. Elsewhere, Nicole Tatz, an attorney representing the co-defendants in the lawsuit, submitted a motion to withdraw. In the submissions, the lawyer 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 on the case.
Divisions in the crypto space
Interestingly, the case has caused some divisions in the crypto community, with Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson announcing he will no longer comment on any matters relating to Ripple and XRP. According to Hoskinson, his decision is based on what he termed as constant attacks from the XRP community. Part of the attacks emerged after Hoskinson wrongly predicted that the case would be settled on December 15. Hoskinson had noted that the date was shared with him by sources close to the matter.
XRP price analysis
By press time, XRP was still consolidating, trading at $0.35 with gains of about 0.25% in the last 24 hours. On the weekly chart, XRP has gained by over 2%. In general, the case outcome is likely to impact the XRP price. For instance, if the case favors Ripple, it could be a bullish sentiment for XRP.
