The XRP lawsuit filed against Ripple Labs and two of its executives in December 2020 could go as far as involving the Supreme Court. This impression was conveyed by Ripple General counsel Stuart Alderoty in a tweet on Monday.
Unlike many crypto companies such as Kraken that opted to pay a fine of $30 million to settle with the SEC over a Securities Act violation charge, Ripple stated that they are ready to spend over $100 million in battling with the financial regulator in court regarding the XRP lawsuit.
The lawsuit which has lasted for over two years now was presumed by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse to be concluded around mid-2023, according to an earlier report. However, this prediction has been disputed following a recent comment dropped by Ripple’s General Counsel.
As disclosed by Alderoty, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lost several cases in the Supreme Court in its five outings. This he shared, applauding those entities that were determined enough to battle with the SEC in court.
“The SEC has lost 4 of its last 5 cases in the Supreme Court, thanks to the few that had the courage and resources to fight back against the SEC’s bullying and clinging to stretch legal positions that were not faithful to the law,” Alderoty wrote.
Ripple Will Win in Supreme Court, John Deaton Says
Some proponents of XRP took this comment to mean that the end of the Ripple-SEC case may not be as close as predicted by Brad Garlinghouse. “Is this a hint that Ripple anticipates fighting the SEC all the way to the Supreme Court?” a certain user XRPcryptowolf commented.
The case involving the apex court indicates more years of litigation because it will have to make it to the circuit first before the Supreme Court. For context, the first phase of appeal is that the circuit level and all of these processes usually take years not months.
Hence, XRP investors seem worried that this may further affect the price action of the 6th largest crypto asset negatively. Already, XRP printed its 12th largest losing (red) candle in a row on Sunday while showing signs of further decline. Notably, the last time XRP price recorded such performance was in March 2015.
Among those who reacted to Alderoty’s comment was John Deaton, the attorney representing over 75,000 XRP holders in the XRP lawsuit as an amici curiae. Deaton indicated that in any case, Ripple will defeat the Gary Gensler-led SEC in the XRP lawsuit, adding that the Supreme Court would help stop the agency’s gross overreach in the crypto industry.
He wrote, “I have no doubt Ripple will win and the current Supreme Court will shut down the SEC’s gross overreach. The West Virginia vs EPA case is all you need to read to agree with me. Ripple’s summary judgment brief is already an extremely well-written appellate brief.”
“We are lucky we got Judge Netburn and Judge Torres and if Judge Torres denies the SEC’s motion like I expect her to and says it goes to a jury, that’s a win. You confuse my motion with Ripple’s. I filed in opposition of the SEC not in support of Ripple,” Deaton added.
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