Although blockchain company Ripple has scored a massive, albeit partial, win in the protracted case against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), its struggles in the legal standoff seem far from over, particularly as the federal judge in the case against Terraform Labs rejected the ruling precedent.
As it happens, District Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has called into question the ruling of Judge Analisa Torres, who found some XRP sales to be non-security offers, and now Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse has attacked the SEC’s use of XRP reports in the lawsuit.
Indeed, following the launch of the recent XRP Markets Report for the second quarter of 2023, which, among other things, includes details on Ripple’s XRP holdings, Garlinghouse said that his team started publishing these reports voluntarily but that the SEC used them against Ripple, as he explained in a post on August 2.
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SEC vs. Ripple’s transparency
Subsequently, legal expert and amicus curiae on the case, John E. Deaton, confirmed Garlinghouse’s statement, saying that “the SEC used the transparency of these reports against Ripple and its two executives,” referring to Garlinghouse and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.
As he added, Ripple, as a private company, “was under no obligation to share this info,” particularly as other businesses “not only didn’t share token sales but intentionally disguised those transactions.” However, according to Deaton, it was this transparency that has helped Ripple’s cause:
“Even though the SEC and others used this info against Ripple, the transparency prevented the SEC from attempting to assert bogus fraud, misrepresentation, or manipulation charges – which, let’s face it, it would have, if it could have. When you’re transparent, they can’t claim fraud – even when they want to.”
In the meantime, the XRP token that has been at the center of the case, was at press time changing hands at the price of $0.66, down 4.35% on the day, as well as losing 7.38% to its value on its weekly chart but still holding onto the 36.82% gains across the previous month, while some indicators suggest that the positive ultimate outcome for Ripple could send it toward $10.
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