Judge Torres to Rule by April End?

Deaton previously disclosed that he believes a ruling on the Ripple vs. SEC case could arrive by April end.

The legal battle between California-based technology company Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lasted over 28 months. Several speculations on the date of the final ruling have emerged, with one of the latest coming from two pro-XRP lawyers who suggested that a judgment could come by the end of April.

Prominent attorneys John Deaton forecasted a few weeks back that Judge Analisa Torres could present a judgment for the case by the end of this month. Following the Daubert motions, he cited previous patterns in the U.S. Judge’s decisions.

Deaton noted that if a ruling does not come before May 6 at the latest, then it would be inconsistent with how Judge Torres handled past cases. “So what I’ve been telling people is that [we’ll get the ruling] somewhere between March 6 and May 6,” Deaton concluded.

April is expected to close in nine days, with fifteen days between now and May 6. If this forecast is accurate, the crypto community can expect a ruling on the case in the next two weeks. Notably, crypto influencer Ben Armstrong, commonly called BitBoy, suggested a ruling could come in June or July based on his convictions.

Ashley Prosper, an XRP community member, shares the same sentiment as attorneys Deaton and Filing. Prosper highlighted in a recent tweet that April 27 would mark the 52nd day since Judge Torres ruled on the Daubert motions. Citing past cases, Prosper asserted that a ruling on the summary judgment could come next week.

#XRP #XRPCommunity
The next week is going to be a very interesting week. Come April 27, we will have been waiting 52 days from when Judge Torres ruled on the Daubert motions. This interests me because it took Judge Torres 52 days to decide the Daubert motions… so I assume her…

— Ashley PROSPER (@AshleyPROSPER1) April 20, 2023

The Peculiarity of the Ripple vs. SEC Case

However, Prosper, as well as other XRP community members, acknowledged that the Ripple vs. SEC case is unlike any other case Judge Torres has handled, and the time needed to reach a decision could be different from past cases.

Earlier this month, attorney Deaton noted that he does not blame Judge Torres for the delay in her judgment, noting that a ruling on the case would represent one of the biggest decisions she has ever made.

“Think about, what other decision is as big as this decision when it comes to global trade and finance in modern history. This is the most significant no-fraud SEC enforcement action since 1946,” Deaton said while speaking on a Crypto Law broadcast.

States: Fight Back https://t.co/m9VuB2wvcW

— CryptoLaw (@CryptoLawUS) April 4, 2023

Amid this anticipation, Deaton has continued to express optimism about a favorable ruling. Last week, he noted that he is confident that Judge Torres will rule that XRP in secondary sales is not a security and that the token itself is not a security. 

Most recently, Deaton asserted that the SEC would lose in the case, citing four judgments made by different judges against the agency’s arguments in past cases. Moreover, Gary Gensler’s inability to confidently brand XRP and ETH as securities in the recent congressional oversight hearing has fueled more speculations that the agency will lose.