Key SEC vs Ripple Takeaways:
- Blockchain startup Ripple has to hand over internal meeting recordings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Why did the lawsuit start in the first place and what are the main Defense/Prosecution fronts?
- Attorney Jeremy Hogan sees the next “Big” ruling to come no sooner than January 2022.
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit is nowhere near an end. Still, attorney Jeremy Hogan, who has been vocal on the case throughout the hearings, says he sees the next significant ruling to come in Jan 2022.
The attorney based the time estimation on his experience in this case and the common practice in New York. In the meantime, the lawsuit is still in the discovery phase, meaning each party investigates the facts of the case “through the rules of civil procedure.”
SEC vs Ripple. What happened?
Before discussing the current proceedings, a small flashback into the case is warranted. The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed the said lawsuit in Dec 2020, accusing Ripple of selling $1.3 billion worth of its native token XRP as unregistered securities. Since then, both parties have worked out several angles of prosecution and defense.
One of the Defense fronts was Fair Notice, as Ripple claimed the law enforcement agency never notified them about the upcoming lawsuit.
Additionally, the SEC has earlier declared ALL of XRP transactions since the ICO (initial coin offering) in violation of the US investment law. Ripple fired back, accusing the agency of bias towards XRP.
The company claimed that as SEC signed both Bitcoin and Ethereum off as cryptocurrencies as early as 2018, there is no evidence to suggest XRP should get the short end of the stick.
Thus, Ripple filed a motion to investigate SEC’s internal documentation and the agency’s emails with third-party experts. The purpose was to possibly reveal a referral to XRP as ‘cryptocurrency’ and not a ‘security.’
Also read: XRP price eyes breakout as Ripple Labs wins right to hide 'privilege logs' from SEC.
It is noteworthy that the SEC handed no such documentation, despite Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn’s ruling six months ago. Instead, it filed a similar motion to discover video and audio recordings of internal Ripple meetings.
Fast forward to the recent development; Judge Netburn granted the motion.
Ripple to hand out internal recordings
James K. Filan, an attorney involved in the case, tweeted about the latest development on Nov 9, with details on the Judge’s ruling in the thread.
Also read: Judge orders SEC to answer interrogatories as Ripple CEO accuses US securities regulator of favoring Ethereum.
Mr. Filan specified that not all the recordings are a matter of interest, as there are more than 4,000 of them.
While the Court recognizes that a human review of the recordings may be unreasonable, a reasonable search could include automated transcriptions of recordings (similar to the common technology used to transcribe voicemail messages) and the use of search terms. Accordingly, Ripple is ORDERED to conduct a reasonable search of the relevant video and audio-taped recordings and produce responsive documents.
added the attorney.
What did Jeremy Hogan have to say?
Mr. Hogan retweeted the message above, adding his thoughts on when the lawsuit could end. He believes that the current ruling is meek, compared to the “BIG” one on Fair Notice Defence that could come in January. The John Wick meme intensified the message, and the tweet sparked a cascade of questions.
Most of the questions concerned the possible end of the lawsuit and significant rulings underway. Several of Mr. Hogan’s followers asked the attorney for a timeframe and got the same answer.
Also read: Ripple CEO goes Rambo on SEC, says no settlement even if court rules out XRP as security.
Mr. Hogan also added that similar proceedings in New York state seem to wait for the discovery phase to end before the Judge addresses the dispositive motions. Therefore the attorney sees no big ruling before January. If his prediction pans out, SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit could drag well into Q1 2022.
