Legal Battle Between Ripple Labs and SEC Continues, Ripple’s Defense Could Secure Total Victory in Court
The ongoing legal tussle between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has caught the attention of many in the cryptocurrency industry. The SEC alleges that Ripple distributed 14.6 billion units of XRP without registering it as security, and the agency has sued Ripple and its executives for this alleged violation.
However, the case is far from a straightforward one, with many legal arguments being made on both sides. Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton has pointed out that the parties have not yet filed their 56.1 statements and counterstatements, which will contain indisputable facts and evidence supporting their positions for summary judgment. This means that making any definitive conclusions about the case is premature.
According to Deaton, one of the key arguments being made by Ripple is that XRP is not a security since there is no underlying contract between Ripple and XRP holders. Ripple has admitted in its summary judgment brief that there were XRP sales made by Ripple that did have a written contract as part of the sale.
Ripple argues that these contracts cannot be deemed investment contracts since they did not obligate the company to take post-sale actions for the benefit of XRP holders, did not allow them to demand anything from Ripple, share in Ripple profits, or grant any equity of any kind.
Deaton stated that while Ripple’s argument may be persuasive, it is uncertain whether the judge will agree with it. If the judge finds that these specific sales constituted investment contracts and that Ripple violated Section 5 by not registering them as securities, Ripple’s fair notice defense may come into play, arguing that the firm lacked fair notice that XRP sales were effectively illegal (unregistered), and that the jury should decide whether those early sales should be excused.
If the judge agrees with the blockchain company’s arguments, and the jury ultimately decides that the early sales should be excused, it would be a total victory for Ripple. However, it is important to remember that this is just one possible scenario, and many other factors are at play.
The legal battle between the company and the SEC has far-reaching implications for the cryptocurrency industry. If XRP is deemed a security, it could have significant consequences for other cryptocurrencies, particularly those distributed through initial coin offerings (ICOs). The outcome of this case could set a precedent for how cryptocurrencies are regulated in the United States and worldwide.
As of this writing, XRP is currently experiencing a significant uptrend in its price action for the last couple of days. Currently, the token is trading at $0.4688, up by 1.1% in the last 24 hours and posting a considerable growth of 10% in the seven-day timeframe.
About the author - J-S Tremblay
I've been involved in the cryptocurrency world since 2016 and trading since 2019. I started Moon and Lambo in 2021. I'm passionate about crypto and love to share my knowledge. I hate bankers and I hope that cryptocurrency will change the financial world for the better. View full profile...
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