As the cryptocurrency community continues to sit tight for the final outcome of the long-running courtroom battle between Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the blockchain company has asked the court to seal certain documents.
Specifically, Ripple has filed a motion to seal specific documents filed in connection with the SEC’s motion for judgment and remedies, according to a document shared by a defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, James K. Filan, in an X post on May 14.
Ripple v. SEC: Confidential financial data
Among other things, the court document addressed to Judge Analisa Torres seeks sealing or redacting confidential information, including the company’s “negotiated financial terms of its contractual agreements with certain third-party business partners.”
Picks for you
“Ripple’s proposed redactions are narrow and target only the specific financial and pricing terms that Ripple and certain of its past or existing counterparties negotiated, and the Court granted Ripple’s identical or similar proposed redactions in connection with the Summary Judgment and Daubert motions.”
On top of that, Ripple’s chief financial officer, Jonathan Bilich, has filed a declaration in support of the firm’s motion to seal, arguing that “Ripple is a private company” that “undertakes significant efforts to protect the confidentiality of its sensitive and proprietary business information.”
“Its disclosure to the public would be detrimental to Ripple’s business relationships with customers and other counterparties and harm Ripple’s competitive standing in the marketplace.”
Discounts to institutional buyers
According to a lawyer and popular commentator on the case, Bill Morgan, this means that Ripple’s legal team is purportedly seeking to seal certain discounts offered to institutional XRP buyers, further explaining that a “company has every right to seek and protect commercially sensitive information.”
As a reminder, the securities regulator has earlier filed its remedies reply brief and supporting exhibits, in which the SEC is trying to justify the need for injunctions, arguing that Ripple’s claims refuting the accusations of acting recklessly were “contrary to evidence,” as Finbold reported on May 10.
In fact, the SEC has accused Ripple of planning “to issue a new unregistered crypto asset,” referring to the company’s announcement on April 4, 2024, of the planned dollar-pegged stablecoin release as evidence of its continuous violations.
Meanwhile, XRP, the token at the center of the protracted legal standoff, was at press time changing hands at the price of $0.51, which indicates an increase of 0.5% on the day, a loss of 6.64% across the past week, and a 2.28% gain in the last month, as per data on May 14.
Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
