Legal battle between Ripple Labs and SEC Seek End Game
Ripple’s legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has entered summary judgment after both parties filed their respective motions.
On Sunday, September 18, Ripple Defense attorney James Filan informed the crypto community of these submissions via social media on Twitter.
Both Ripple and the SEC filed motions for summary judgment in the Southern District of New York, asking District Judge Analisa Torres to issue a ruling based on the arguments filed in accompanying documents.
In December 2020, the SEC sued Ripple Labs, alleging that the crypto firm had raised over $1.3 billion by selling XRP in unregistered securities transactions. But Ripple argued that XRP sales and trading did not meet the Howey test, a test created by the Supreme Court to determine whether a transaction qualifies as a security.
Friday 16 On September 10, the parties filed various discovery motions over the past two years without ruling on whether Ripple violated securities laws by selling XRP.
The summary judgment motions involve the parties asking the court to decide whether the SEC or Ripple has provided enough evidence to prove there was a breach.
Based on the summary judgment for each side, the SEC wants the federal judge to rule that the crypto company associated with the XRP cryptocurrency violated federal securities laws. On the other hand, Ripple wants the judge to dismiss the lawsuit without requiring a lengthy trial.
The SEC argued, among other things, that various statements from Ripple’s executives show that Ripple sold XRP, and XRP investors bought the cryptocurrency with the hope that their holdings would increase in value over time.
But Ripple argued that there was no contract between the company and XRP investors and that there was no joint venture, one of the requirements under the Howey test.
What are crypto users saying?
The filing of these recap proposals has set off many online chats in the crypto community. With this, society means that the trial is coming to an end.
Meanwhile, crypto legal expert Jeremy Hogan commented on the SEC-Ripple case. He pointed out that the SEC is facing several major issues, which indicated a victory for Ripple.
The analyst claimed that the SEC failed to get “on record” that any XRP buyer heard Ripple’s marketing pitch. He said that factor ultimately has “the burden of proving EVERYTHING here.” Attorney Hogan further revealed that one of the SEC’s experts admitted that most of XRP’s price changes are due to market forces “and not Ripple.”
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