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Lawyers Weigh In On SEC’s XRP Appeal, Settlement, Final Judgment Date

Published

5 months ago

June 13, 2024

Coin2049 Newsletter

Ripple vs SEC Lawsuit News: Unless there’s an expected twist from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), lawyers say the long-awaited final judgment in SEC v. Ripple Labs could come in July. They also believe the SEC will probably appeal the summary judgment as Judge Torres ruled that XRP programmatic sales are not security contracts.

Lawyers Clears Air On If SEC Can Appeal Entire Ruling

Pro-XRP lawyer Fred Rispoli predicts a ruling by Judge Torres on remedies by the end of July or early August. “Although Judge Torres could get poetic and issue it on July 13,” he added. The SEC argues $2 billion in total fines including penalties, while Ripple believes the penalty amount should not exceed $10 million.

Rispoli added that the case can always be settled beforehand, but the odds are currently at zero percent. SEC and Ripple can also settle arguments not addressed by judges in the ruling. However, the SEC can still move to appeal against programmatic sales of XRP.

This is splitting hairs from Marc’s answer, but the SEC cannot appeal anything to do with its claims against Brad and Chris relating to Institutional Sales, which the SEC agreed to dismiss with prejudice. The SEC could still appeal its claims against both for Programmatic Sales.

— Fred Rispoli (@freddyriz) June 13, 2024

Marc Fagel, a former SEC securities lawyer, also reaffirmed that the SEC will likely appeal the summary judgment ruling on liability as they didn’t agree with Judge Torres on XRP’s classification as not a security under the Howey test. In addition, he added that the agency can appeal the remedies order, “but that’s a real long shot.”

Also Read: XRP Whale Dumps 52M Coins Amid Price Upswing, What’s Next?

Judge Netburn May Not Rule on Expert Witness

Both parties have strong arguments on the expert witness motion in the XRP lawsuit. Lawyers including Bill Morgan and Jeremy Hogan think Ripple Labs will lose the motion to strike the declaration of expert witness Andrea Fox in the remedies dispute.

Commenting on whether Judge Netburn to rule on expert witness, Fred Rispoli said “Netburn and Torres can confer and determine that the issue before Netburn (the SEC’s “extra expert”) does not need to be ruled upon.” Judge Torres can bypass expert witness to announce a final judgment on remedies and injunction. But he claims this will only happen in case the ruling is in favor of Ripple.

Also Read: Ripple Vs SEC: Lawyer Says XRP Lawsuit Going To Appeals Court, What’s Next?

How $4.47B Settlement In Terraform vs SEC Impact XRP Lawsuit?

Terraform Labs and Do Kwon’s settlement with the U.S. SEC was not welcomed by the crypto community as the SEC has been unfair in enforcement lawsuits, including Ripple and DebtBox cases.

Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal and Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty also expressed dissatisfaction with the SEC luring a hefty fine from Terraform Labs. The Terra Luna crisis caused investors to lose $40 billion in wealth and led to the collapse of many crypto firms in what was seen as a domino effect. They said the settlement made the SEC an unsecured creditor in the bankruptcy and no meaningful relief to fraud victims.

Formed SEC lawyer James Farell claimed that the injunction in the Terra fraud lawsuit weakens “lots of Ripple’s arguments regarding proprietary and proportionality.” Ripple claimed that a penalty over $10 million would be excessive when compared to prior crypto cases.

Also Read: Terraform Labs Has Just $75 Million In Assets, How Will It Pay the SEC $4.75 Billion?