 
 
Popular crypto attorney John Deaton has acknowledged that the XRP community, commonly referred to as the XRP Army, was a tipping element that helped notch Ripple’s legal victory against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Ripple v. SEC Case Closed
John Deaton took to X, dismissing the narrative by critics that the XRP Army had no impact on the Ripple lawsuit. Deaton asserted that the efforts of the XRP army swayed Judge Analisa Torres and subsequently had an effect on her ruling.
“No credible person can argue” that the XRP Army didn’t make a difference in the Ripple case,” he said, adding:
“If they do they’re either ignorant to the facts and truth or intentionally lying. We have conclusive evidence that we made a difference.”
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in late 2020, accusing it of raising $1.3 billion via an unregistered sale of XRP, the world’s third-largest crypto by market capitalization. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres issued a split ruling, declaring that some sales of XRP to institutional investors broke securities laws, but sales on public exchanges did not.
 
The litigation officially ended in August this year after both Ripple and the SEC withdrew their respective appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, finalizing an agreement for Ripple to pay a $125 million civil penalty.
How XRP Army Helped Ripple’s Legal Defense
According to Deaton, Ripple submitted more than 2,000 exhibits in its legal defense, and these included the amicus brief, affidavits from XRP tokenholders, and oral arguments. Deaton suggested that Judge Torres cited some of these exhibits in her ruling.
“She ruled XRP itself is NOT a security while citing XRP Holder Affidavits. Had she not cited those things, people could legitimately debate whether our efforts made a real difference,” he quipped.
Deaton rallied XRP holders to submit affidavits and make testimonies in Ripple’s lawsuit with the U.S. SEC, and over the years, the XRP Army petitioned and coordinated social media campaigns to push regulators.
“The proof is in the decision itself. Often, people say one person can’t make a difference. I say: one person can inspire many people and together, they can make a difference,” Deaton summarized.
At press time, XRP was worth approximately $2.84 with a budding community that has been growing since the cross-border token’s launch in 2017. It has tanked 22.2% since hitting its current all-time high price of $3.65 set in July.