The court case of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple (XRP) will not end with a verdict this year. Both parties to the lawsuit have jointly presented a timetable for further progress.
Trial observers had already guessed it, now it is official: a verdict in the trial of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission SEC against Ripple (XRP) is not scheduled until next year. The opponents have agreed on a schedule for when the hearing of evidence and pleadings will be completed in 2022. Accordingly, December 20, 2022 is the deadline, as crypto lawyer James Filan, who is always well-informed about the proceedings, made public via Twitter. A verdict for or against Ripple is thus only possible in 2023, more than two years after the indictment from December 2020.
It had already become clear in recent months that the SEC wants to drag out the proceedings. The expert public sees the SEC’s strategy as an attempt to delay its impending defeat. Jeremy Hogan, an attorney also watching the trial, speaks on Twitter of a “worst-case scenario” for Ripple. He said he has never seen a plaintiff block a lawsuit the way the SEC has. Typically, he said, it is defendants who have an interest in buying time.
The SEC is taking Ripple to court because it believes XRP was sold from 2014 without necessary authorization. Ripple’s cryptocurrency, it said, should be considered a “security” and therefore subject to approval. At least $1.3 billion in damages are being sought by the SEC as a result. Ripple categorically rejects the accusations and argues that XRP is comparable to other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH) and therefore came to the market legally. For Ethereum, the SEC had committed in 2018 to refrain from regulation from its side.
For Ripple, Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty commented on the latest developments via Twitter. He says the agreement now reached with the SEC on a binding timeline in the process is welcome in that it does not leave open the possibility of further loops. He criticized the SEC for abusing its position. The agency, he said, was ignoring the 40 million U.S. residents who hold balances in Bitcoin and the like. But like Filan, Alderoty legally saw only the option of letting the mammoth process drift to infinity without agreement on a timetable.
Conclusion: For XRP, Ripple must also tick off 2022 – will the comeback come in 2023?
Shortly after the indictment became known, the major crypto exchanges also delisted XRP in the US and later also in Canada. Thus, North America – although actually home market – is currently dead for Ripple in business terms, as CEO Brad Garlinghouse also admitted a week ago. But at Ripple one is firmly convinced that an acquittal in 2023 will lead to a brilliant comeback for XRP. Investors, however, should by no means believe with XRP that patience into next year will automatically pay off. Even before the SEC’s lawsuit, there were all kinds of reasons to doubt the success of Ripple and XRP.
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