The landmark legal battle between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs has taken a new step, with both parties proposing a schedule for remedies discovery and briefing. The two entities filed the lawsuit before Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York on November 9. This development comes after a long and protracted legal battle between the two parties, which began in December 2020 when the then-outgoing chairman Jay Clayton accused the company of securities violations for issuing XRP tokens. Ever since, both parties have valiantly fought it out in court. This latest development is significant in indicating a potential resolution to the case.
The latest filing by the SEC and Ripple highlighted key elements that can shed more light on possible outcomes of the case. Notably, both parties have agreed that permissible discovery will include facts occurring in the period before the filing of the SEC’s Complaint. The SEC has also submitted a request to conduct 90 days of remedies-related discovery, which Ripple has consented to, albeit limited to pre-complaint discovery. Additionally, the latest filing brought up Anthony Bracco, Ripple’s expert witness who testified on the legal remedies of the case. After the entry of the scheduling order, Ripple will have 45 days to serve a superseding version of Bracco’s report to the regulator. Subsequently, the SEC can serve its rebuttal expert or submit the declaration of a summary witness to refute the report.
The mutual cooperation evident in the filing has given way to speculations by legal experts that the Ripple-SEC case is nearing completion. Fred Rispoli, the lawyer behind HODL Law, a decentralized justice project, stated that the letter indicates a more agreeable tone compared to previous cruder communications, signaling a potential resolution to the case. Similarly, attorney Jeremy Hogan believes that the filing has brought to the fore the question about the sovereign rights of foreign countries, which is crucial in understanding the potential outcome of the case.
While the latest filing did not reveal much in terms of new details or strategies about the high-profile legal showdown, legal experts believe that the letter signifies that both entities are nearing the summit and are trying to find the best way forward to settle the dispute. Ripple’s recent landmark victory in July, when a judge ruled that it didn’t violate securities laws by selling XRP on public exchanges, was a significant turning point in the case. This latest filing suggests that a similar resolution may be on the horizon.
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In conclusion, the latest legal developments in the Ripple-SEC case reveal a potential step forward in the form of proposed schedules for remedies discovery and briefing by both parties. The mutual agreement evident in the filing indicates that both entities are actively seeking a resolution to the protracted legal battle. This latest development, combined with the recent landmark victory for Ripple, points to a potential resolution to the case in the near future. As the case progresses, it will be interesting to see how the legal dispute between Ripple Labs and the SEC unfolds, and what implications it may have on the broader crypto ecosystem.
