Ripple CEO praises Judge in XRP lawsuit

Rick Steves

Ripple has scored many wins throughout the lawsuit so far on account of Judge Sarah Netburn’s rulings. 

Brad Garlinghouse, Chief Executive Officer at Ripple Labs, seems to be quite happy about how the defendants have been dealing with the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit.

Ripple’s Garlinghouse told CNBC “we’re seeing pretty good progress despite a slow-moving judicial process. […] Clearly, we’re seeing good questions asked by the judge. And I think the judge realizes this is not just about Ripple, this will have broader implications.”

Ripple has scored many wins throughout the lawsuit so far on account of Judge Sarah Netburn’s rulings. These include ordering the in camera review to ascertain the SEC’s privilege claims, which was a major blow for the plaintiff, as well as ordering the hearing of ex-SEC Commissioner William Hinman.

The SEC has also been ordered to explain a lot via requests for admission on many fronts, from XRP sales offshore to questions relating to the fair notice defense and whether the XRP ledger was “fully functional” when the sales took place in 2013. The Hogan attorneys offered their analysis on this major win for Ripple.

Judge Sarah Netburn is currently hearing experts witnesses as part of the expert discovery, which is why there has been a lack of news relating to the lawsuit.

“I am certain that each side, in this case, have listed numerous experts and they will be explaining all the technical aspects of the case to the judge and we can expect each deposition to last all day and each expert must prepare a report of his or her opinion and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are 10 to 15 experts in total on this case. So when adding it all together that’s a lot of work going on right now in the case behind the scenes”, said attorney Jeremy Hogan.

Ripple wants to lead change in crypto regulation

The legal feud with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission started when the regulator filed a complaint against Ripple in late 2020 despite prior attempts from the blockchain firm to ensure compliance with the regulatory framework.

Ripple has complained the framework lacks clarity and that the SEC seems uninterested in changing that for the sake of a healthy digital asset ecosystem.

The company has recently published its view of how a functional regulatory framework could be set up in a document named “A Real Approach to Cryptocurrency Regulation”.

Ripple mentions the Securities Clarity Act (SCA), which proposes a new term — “investment contract asset” — and makes clear that such assets should be considered separate and distinct from any securities offerings they may have been a part of.

The Digital Commodity Exchange Act (DCEA), which is complementary to the SCA, seeks to create a federal definition of “digital commodity exchanges” and charges the CFTC with authority to register and oversee them, similar to the requirements in commodity derivatives markets.

The blockchain specialist is also backing SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s sandbox idea, under which network developers would be exempt for three years from the registration provisions of federal securities laws, during which time they would be allowed to launch their products and develop their networks through token transactions.

If “network maturity” has been achieved at the conclusion of the three-year period, token transactions would not trigger securities registration requirements, under SEC Peirce’s proposal.

Ripple’s Garlinghouse praises UAE, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland on crypto regulation

Regulators around the world have been taking a closer look at crypto and chief executive Garlinghouse pointed to the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Singapore, and Switzerland as positive examples when it comes to regulating crypto.

The SEC’s enforcement practices on crypto have led Jones Day law firm to caution regulators in the Middle East and elsewhere as they set up their framworks.

The US approach has created regulatory gaps, overlapping jurisdiction of enforcement agencies, a complex framework that is subject to constant change that has been driving entities to avoid U.S. jurisdiction. These have nonetheless been subjected to U.S. enforcement action.

The attorneys at Jones Day have written the document in order to help market participants avoid some of the common pitfalls by gleaning what lessons they can from the United States’ eight-year history of cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions.

The five lessons offered by the law firm are based on two SEC lawsuits: Ripple and BitConnect.

 

More news on Ripple (XRP):

JP Morgan: “If Ripple wins SEC lawsuit, XRP is poised for significant adoption”

Why has XRP lawsuit gone silent?

SEC v. Ripple got XRP delisted but Jed McCaleb sold $2b in 2021: double standard?

Ripple’s string of wins analyzed, XRP lawsuit to drag on until Spring 2022

SEC v. Ripple: What to wait for in XRP lawsuit agenda?

Ripple brings fight to lawmakers to put an end to “SEC hostility”

Did Ripple lie about its XRP-powered liquidity platform?

Legal experts analyze SEC v. Ripple as cautionary tale for market participants

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