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The legal battle between Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to unfold, with both parties making applications that are likely to influence the summary judgment. With the judgment date remaining uncertain, involved players are exuding confidence in emerging victorious.
In the latest update, U.S. defense attorney James Filan tweeted on March 3 that Ripple filed a letter in line with the recent Supreme Court case that backed the blockchain firm’s Fair Notice Defense.
The letter is in light of the recent ruling that constrains the U.S. government’s power to impose penalties on American taxpayers who fail to disclose their offshore bank accounts. Therefore, Ripple has underscored the importance of federal laws providing clear guidelines on what is prohibited.
Ripple has urged U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres to consider the aforementioned court ruling while passing her verdict. Ripple maintains that the ruling supports its contention that the SEC failed to give adequate “fair warning” regarding the legality of XRP and that the agency’s actions have had a negative impact on both investors and the broader cryptocurrency industry.
As a recap, Ripple is facing a lawsuit filed by the SEC, alleging that the blockchain company and its past and present CEOs illegally raised $1.3 billion by selling XRP tokens in an unregistered securities offering.
SEC’s criticism of regulating crypto
Currently, the SEC is under criticism for its approach to regulating the cryptocurrency space, with the agency bringing new lawsuits against other industry players. Following the SEC’s approach, XRP holders’ lawyer John Deaton has stated that the general crypto sector should acknowledge that the regulator waged war on the space with the Ripple lawsuit. He, therefore, called for companies in litigation with the SEC to join hands and “exchange ideas.”
“We must think out of the box and organize. For example, all companies in active litigation with the SEC or about to be should be meeting, sharing ideas, and developing coordinated strategies. It’s a war,” Deaton said.
Previously, as reported by Finbold, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had labeled the case as unhealthy. According to the executive, the SEC onslaught on the payments company goes beyond XRP but will be pivotal for the whole industry.
Summary judgment
Elsewhere, the crypto community eagerly awaits the date for the summary judgment in the matter, with Filan speculating that the case might be settled by the end of March. However, several legal experts led by Deaton argue that the SEC and Ripple might reach a settlement to avoid a further appeal.
Interestingly, lawyer Jeremy Hogan has suggested that if Ripple wins the case, the SEC might not be able to appeal, arguing that the regulator has a lot of downsides.
“I actually don’t think the SEC will appeal a loss. There’s too much downside for the SEC in front of an appellate court – an adverse ruling from an appellate court would jeopardize the whole ‘no rules, only enforcement’ thing it is doing,” he said.
Meanwhile, the case is recording renewed battle around the unsealing of the Hinman speech documents that are touted to give insight into how the SEC initially considered the classification of securities.
The case outcome is speculated to initially impact the value of XRP since the token is in the middle of contention.
XRP price analysis
By press time, XRP was trading at $0.37, with weekly losses of over 1%, with the asset failing to break the $0.40 resistance. In the meantime, as reported by Finbold, if Ripple wins the SEC case, a panel of financial experts in Finder’s January 2023 report project XRP is likely to be valued at $3.81 by the end of 2025. Nevertheless, the expert forecast XRP to trade at $0.98 by 2025 if the SEC prevails.
The token controls a market cap of $18.99 billion.
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