Ripple v. SEC court case update as of January 30, 2023

The crypto world continues to closely follow the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After both parties filed their respective summary briefings, the fate of Ripple and its XRP token remains uncertain. 

With the judgment yet to be known, legal experts are still speculating on the potential outcome and its impact on the cryptocurrency industry. 

One legal expert, John Deaton, the founder of Crypto Law, recently commented on the case highlighting the SEC’s ‘schizophrenic argument’ regarding what constitutes the common enterprise in the Ripple case and believes that there is a possibility that the presiding judge could deny summary judgment.

“Based on the SEC’s schizophrenic argument regarding what constitutes the common enterprise in the Ripple case, there’s a possibility Judge Torres could deny summary judgment and rule that there is a genuine issue of material facts as to the existence of a common enterprise,” Deaton said in a tweet on January 30. 

Notably, a common enterprise is a key factor in determining whether a financial instrument is a security or not. Interestingly, Deaton had projected that the case might end up in a settlement. According to the attorney, even after the summary judgment, Ripple and SEC are likely to settle to avoid further appeals. 

Ripple claims the SEC wants a ruling that XRP is an investment contract, but with no contract, no investor rights, and no issuer obligations. The SEC has accused Ripple of using ‘invented’ criteria that disregard established securities law in the U.S.

Ripple v. investment banker declarant

As the case awaits a judgment date, the matter is still recording interest from interested parties who seek to influence the final judgment. For instance, Ripple had filed a motion objecting to an investment banker declarant’s request to keep certain information, including their name, position, and employer, confidential. 

However, as reported by Finbold, the party submitted a reply to Ripple’s objections noting that revealing their identity could negatively impact future investigations by deterring witnesses from cooperating due to a lack of assurance of confidentiality. 

In the meantime, both Ripple and SEC are confident of emerging victorious in the matter amid high-profile points of contention. At the moment, the crypto community will be looking at the court’s decisions in sealing certain documents from the public. 

It is worth noting that the outcome of this case will not only impact Ripple and XRP, but it will also set a precedent for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. In the matter, the SEC is suing Ripple for selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP tokens. 

XRP price analysis

At the same time, during the hearings, the value of XRP has expressed stability with the general market. By press time, XRP was trading at $0.41 with weekly losses of about 5%.

The token controls a market capitalization of about $20.86 billion. 

Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.