BREAKING: Ripple and SEC agree to XRP lawsuit timeline
The SEC, Ripple, and the individual defendants agreed to conclude the briefing schedule before Christmas.
Both parties in the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit have filed a joint letter proposing a summary judgment briefing schedule.
According to the document, the defendants and plaintiff propose opening briefs for summary judgment and expert challenges in August 2022. Closing briefs would take place by end of the year.
“Worse than expected. All final briefs due December 20, 2022. Absent a settlement, end of March 2023 for a decision is now best case”, said XRP Holders attorney John Deaton.
Briefing from August 2 to December 20, 2022
Pursuant to the court’s March 23 order, both parties have entered the following briefing schedule:
– Motions for summary judgment, Rule 56.1 Statements, and motions to exclude expert testimony must be filed by August 2, 2022;
– Oppositions to any motions for summary judgment, responses to Rule 56.1 Statements, and responses to motions to exclude expert testimony must be filed by November 2, 2022;
– Replies to any opposition must be filed by December 20, 2022.
Securities law attorney and XRP community member James K. Filan has recently stated that a realistic timeline for summary judgment motions would be opening briefs in either July or August and then all briefing completed by either October or November.
Filan also pointed to a Goldman Sachs case in which Judge Torres has recently issued a summary judgment ruling to suggest that a court ruling would likely happen several months following the end of briefing.
Should the same waiting period apply in the XRP lawsuit, and taking into account that briefing will only end on December 20, 2022, then the XRP case could be over by March-April 2023.
Still, this schedule would apply under a summary judgment scenario. A settlement, however, remains a distinct possibility as the ghost of Hinman threatens the SEC. Should the court confirm its ruling on the SEC’s internal documents, it is now widely expected that the SEC will fold and reach out for a settlement.
“A settlement prior to a ruling, comes down to the emails and comments with edits and the 68 drafts of the Hinman Speech and whether the SEC will be forced to turn them over”, said attorney John Deaton.
Finance Feeds has spoken with Natalia Zakharova from retail and institutional broker FXOpen, who said a settlement could trigger a 150% rally in XRP.