It’s possible that the legal battle between Ripple Labs and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has been going on since 2020 and will serve as a model for the cryptocurrency sector, will soon be over. The SEC and Ripple Labs, the company behind ripple (XRP), have both filed motions for summary judgment.
In December 2020, a day before former SEC Chair Jay Clayton resigned, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and its Chairman Chris Larsen, alleging that the company had raised over $1.3 billion through unregistered XRP sales. Over the past two years, the parties have filed a number of discovery motions without actually litigating the underlying issue of whether Ripple violated securities law by selling XRP. The motions for summary actually mean that both parties are asking the court to really conclude whether either the SEC or Ripple has sufficiently given enough proofs to demonstrate somehow whether there was an infringement.
About Ripple:
Ripple, a blockchain-based alternative to SWIFT, the global interbank messaging system that facilitates daily payments totaling trillions of dollars, was established in 2012. Banks and fintech companies buy software from the company. Additionally, Ripple makes use of XRP, the sixth-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market value, to facilitate international trade. The majority of the 100 billion XRP tokens in circulation are owned by the company, which periodically releases them from an escrow account to maintain stable prices.
Updates regarding the legal battle:
Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s general counsel, tweeted that the company’s response was its final submission. In the filing, the company requested a judgment in its favor, according to him. Alderoty stated that the cryptocurrency company was pleased with the defense it put up for the crypto industry. The SEC has failed to demonstrate the existence of an investment contract as indicated in the redacted court filing from December 2.
According to the company, both Ripple founders had the right to summary judgment regarding their decision to sell on foreign exchanges. The business claims that the SEC was unable to provide any material facts to the contrary.
When Fox Business reported on November 14 that Ripple had reached a settlement agreement with the SEC, there was some confusion. However, a later report by one of its reporters revealed that a Ripple spokesperson had refuted these assertions. Throughout the two-year legal battle, Ripple received significant support from the crypto community. Cryptocurrency businesses like Coinbase and others submitted around a dozen amicus curiae briefs. In addition, approximately 70,000 holders of XRP submitted a brief in support of the business.
