After entering its third calendar year, the Ripple/SEC dispute between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs may soon come to a close, perhaps setting a precedent for the whole cryptocurrency sector.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse told CNBC on January 18, 2023: “We have high hopes that this issue will be rectified in 2023, maybe in the first half. So, we’ll wait and watch how things develop. However, I am extremely satisfied with where we are in light of the law and the evidence.”
SEC vs Ripple lawsuit
It is expected that Garlinghouse will receive the final ruling in the Ripple lawsuit “in the single-digit months,” according to him. The key is that, on a go-forward basis, XRP is clearly not a security, as we have said since we have always stated we would love to settle.
The SEC and Gary Gensler, the SEC chairman, have publicly said that they consider practically all cryptocurrencies to be securities.
On Twitter, there was a rumor in December 2022 that the lawsuit, which hinges on whether or not Ripple’s XRP coin is an unregistered security. He claimed to have received rumors that the XRP vs SEC case may be resolved around December 15. Hoskinson subsequently explained, however, that he was only transmitting rumors rather than any actual information, therefore this XRP lawsuit information was ultimately just conjecture.
- SEC vs Ripple comes to an end as the SEC is instilling doubt and fear into the crypto industry.
- XRP will be the only crypto having clarity and may cause an increase in price.
- 16 distinct briefs submitted in all, with the newest endorsement coming from market leader Coinbase.
As of 2 December 2022, both Ripple Labs and the SEC were required to submit a reply in support of their summary judgment motions.
The parties had already filed their initial motions for summary judgment, which were made public on September 17, 2022. According to Ripple’s general counsel, Stu Alderoty, the SEC is acting outside of its legal authority. The SEC wants to change the law rather than implement it, in an effort to increase its authority beyond what is permitted.
On 20 October 2022, Ripple scored a small victory after the judge ordered the SEC to hand over the “Hinman documents”. An SEC application was made on 22 December 2022 to block the publication of Hinman’s documents, as well as Ripple Labs’ court papers.
A flurry of groups has come out in favor of Ripple and provided the court with amicus curiae documents. There have been 16 distinct briefs submitted in all, with the newest endorsement coming from market leader Coinbase. The Blockchain Association and the Chamber of Digital Commerce are two other crypto advocacy organizations that have joined this list.
In September 2022, XRP surged in response to the first indication that the Ripple court case was about to conclude. Later that month, following the Hinman decision, it also increased. However, the price of XRP plummeted as a result of a later decision in the related LBRY case, which classified cryptocurrencies as securities.