A former director of the SEC has said that a decision in the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit is near
Ex-SEC Director Expects Ripple versus. SEC Decision Within Days. After more than two years, the SEC-Ripple lawsuit may finally be resolved.
The long-running dispute between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to be resolved in the coming days, according to a former enforcement attorney and regional director at the SEC.
Former San Francisco SEC Regional Director Marc Fagel is waiting for a judge to rule on the XRP complaint and believes she will do so in the coming days. When an XRP supporter tweeted that the SEC’s decision to drop its litigation before summary judgement may damage the presiding judge, Fagel responded. A further tweet expressed concern that waiting for the verdict would add to the impression that PR had some effect on the judge’s decision.
Fagel, attempting to avoid speculation, said that a ruling from the court might be anticipated within days. He thinks the complexity of the matter, and not any hidden intentions, will cause any additional delay in the litigation.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, the SEC filed its landmark lawsuit against Ripple and its top executives, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen.
After the controversial William Hinman documents were made public, the XRP community was in an uproar. Counsel for Ripple contended that market participants, including Ripple, were misled into thinking that XRP was not a security because of a lecture by Hinman in 2018 in which he indicated that Ether, the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain, was not a security.
Former SEC director Fagel claims the Ripple case is unlike any other recent enforcement proceedings by the securities regulator. He speculated that the court would avoid discussing the Hinman papers and the secondary market trading issue. A decision on the responsibility of the individual defendants may include a reference to the emails.
John Deaton, an attorney for XRP holders, joined in on the discussion on Twitter, recalling his prior claim that prosecuting individual executives with aiding and abetting was the worst error since it prompted a recklessness threshold. Deaton is confident that no fair-minded jury could find the two Ripple executives negligent.
The high-stakes conflict between the SEC and Ripple will likely become a watershed event for the cryptocurrency sector, not just XRP. Gary Gensler, the chairman of the SEC, has repeatedly stated his opinion that all cryptocurrencies are securities, with the exception of Bitcoin, suggesting that the SEC intends to investigate other crypto assets.
A loss for Ripple would discourage widespread usage of cryptocurrencies, encourage the SEC to bring more cases like this one, disrupt markets, and send many promising new crypto ventures fleeing to more welcoming countries.
In contrast, if Ripple emerged victorious, it would increase trust in cryptocurrency holdings and usher in a new age of investing. According to Deaton, if this occurs, the value of XRP, Ripple’s cryptocurrency, may quickly increase to $10.
Also Read: Solana’s Crypto-Enabled Smartphone Is Competing In A Crowded Market