Ripple criticizes the SEC’s bid to protect experts in high-profile cryptocurrencies

(Reuters) – The US Securities and Exchange Commission has made a “unique” move to keep the names of its expert witnesses hidden, Ripple Labs Inc said in a file in the agency’s highly-monitored case on the XRP cryptocurrency.

The San Francisco-based company told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres on Sunday that the SEC had insisted that Ripple’s challenges to three SEC experts be filed under seal, until the judge decides whether to shield the opinion of a fourth expert who the SEC says has faced “threats and harassment.”

Experts play a key role in the SEC’s lawsuit alleging that Ripple and its current and former CEOs made a $ 1.3 billion unregistered securities offering by selling XRP, which Ripple’s founders created in 2012.

Lawyers in the cryptocurrency sphere follow the case closely as it can have legal consequences for other digital assets.

Ripple and its leaders have denied the allegations, and the company has claimed that XRP has acted and been used as a digital currency.

The defendants said in Sunday’s submission that the SEC “abuses” an order that protects information in the case “to prevent criticism of the experts from reaching the public.”

“The SEC’s attempts to shield the identities and opinions of its experts from any public inquiry are both unique and unsupported by any evidence of need,” their lawyers wrote.

They asked Torres to let both sides come up with arguments and then decide if any information should be screened.

A SEC spokesman declined to comment. The agency has indicated in submissions that a fourth expert, Patrick B. Doody, has been the subject of “anonymous threatening posts on social media.”

Doody’s role in the case became public when six XRP holders, who were granted amicus status in the case, sought to submit on their own initiative and challenge his expert report. The SEC has argued in court papers that public release of information about the report could “ignite the discourse and result in further harassment and threats.”

Doody did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The SEC previously hired Doody to analyze the expectations of token buyers in the case against Telegram Group Inc.

The case is SEC v. Ripple Labs Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-CV-10832.

For Ripple: Andrew Ceresney of Debevoise & Plimpton

For the SEC: Pascale Guerrier and Stewart Ladan

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