Ripple Shares Update on SEC Lawsuit, Predicts New End Date

Ripple has provided new updates on its lawsuit against SEC.

Leading Silicon Valley blockchain company Ripple Labs has provided an update on its ongoing lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to Ripple Labs’ most recent quarterly market report (Q1 2023), the leading blockchain analyzed the state of the crypto markets, especially issues related to its businesses.

Some of the information highlighted in the report include the on-chain activity of XRP Ledger (XRPL), its quarterly XRP sales, On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) transactions, etc. 

SEC v. Ripple Lawsuit

The leading Silicon Valley tech company provided an update on the SEC lawsuit, which has been on for more than two years. It emphasized the March 6, 2023, order issued by Judge Analisa Torres. The order decided which SEC’s and Ripple’s expert opinions the court might consider in summary judgment.

Ripple noted that the court struck from the record the opinion of one of SEC’s experts who testified on the reasonable expectations of XRP purchasers. In the same vein, the testimony of another SEC expert who also tried to determine what caused a change in XRP price was also struck from the record.

For context, in December 2020, the SEC charged Ripple and two of its executives, Chris Larsen and Bradley Garlinghouse, with offering unregistered securities in the form of XRP. The securities regulator alleged that the company raised a whopping $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP. 

The parties had been in a lengthy legal battle for over two years, and they have also filed the final rounds of briefs seeking summary judgment.

Members of the cryptocurrency community, including XRP enthusiasts, eagerly anticipate Judge Torres’ summary judgment on the case. Crypto enthusiasts have made wild guesses on when Judge Torres may issue a ruling.

Notably, the March 31 prediction of pro-XRP lawyer James K. Filan, who has closely followed the lawsuit, did not come to pass as many expected.

CryptoLaw founder attorney John Deaton recently predicted that the summary judgment on Ripple vs. SEC might come on or before May 6, 2023. Additionally, Ripple’s CEO speculates that the ruling might come within the first half of 2023. 

In its recent Q1 2023 financial report, Ripple says it expects the summary judgment decision to come before the end of the year. However, it asserts that the summary judgment “timing is ultimately up to the court.” 

Ripple Shade US Crypto Regulatory Approach

Ripple Labs fired shots at the United States’ approach to crypto regulations. According to the blockchain company, the United States has continued to focus on regulation by enforcement instead of establishing clear rules for its crypto industry.

It cited a few instances where United States regulators have opted for enforcement actions over embracing rulemaking. Ripple pointed to the SEC issuing Wells Notice to Paxos and Coinbase.

Furthermore, it highlighted the lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). The CFTC alleged that Binance and its CEO violated US trading and derivative laws.

Meanwhile, Ripple’s update on the SEC lawsuit comes a few hours before Garlinghouse asserted that the US is moving backward in terms of cryptocurrency regulations.