While the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Versus Ripple legal battle appears to see an end soon, SEC’s newly filed lawsuits against two leading crypto exchanges, Coinbase and Binance, seem to gather more momentum, which has stirred up mixed feelings in the crypto community.
In one of the most recent developments, a renowned crypto-friendly legal analyst, MetaLawMan, thinks that a summary judgment by Judge Torres in the SEC versus Ripple lawsuit would hint at a possible final ruling in the legal proceedings against Coinbase and Binance.
Read Also: Community Calls Coinbase to Relist XRP as Ripple CTO and General Counsel React to Major Development
In addition, MetaLawMan took to his official Twitter handle to note that the stakes are high in the Ripple-SEC lawsuit, especially in the court proceedings involving Coinbase and Binance.
1/ The stakes just keep getting higher for the ruling in SEC v. @Ripple.
Here's why.
If Judge Torres rules that $XRP tokens trading on secondary markets are Not Securities–it would undermine the entire basis for the SEC's case against @Coinbase and much of the @Binance case.
— MetaLawMan (@MetaLawMan) June 8, 2023
How Would XRP Lawsuit’s Judgement Affect Coinbase’s Legal Proceedings
Recall that Coinbase allegedly enhanced the trading of at least 13 unregistered securities according to SEC’s claims. MetaLawMan noted that should the judge rule to classify these crypto assets, which the SEC used to implicate Coinbase, as non-security assets, it implies that the SEC is on the path to losing the legal case.
Furthermore, the crypto legal analyst maintained that a summary ruling from Judge Torres in the SEC versus Ripple case would not stand as a binding precedent. However, MetaLawMan expects Jennifer H. Rearden, the presiding judge over the Coinbase lawsuit, to pick inspiration from Judge Torres’ wealth of experience when pronouncing her judgment.
Notably, MetaLawMan revealed that Rearden and Torres are both judges in the same court. While Judge Torres is a senior Judge who is highly respected, with several years of experience, Judge Rearden has only merely been a judge for just six months and working in lower Manhattan.
MetaLawMan said, “So, while a Torres decision on $XRP would not be a ‘binding precedent,’ I do believe Judge Rearden will pay very close attention to Judge Torres’ legal reasoning in ruling whether $XRP is a security.”
MetaLawMan also analyzed the situation from a different point of view, noting that should Judge Torres rule in SEC’s favor, the SEC would pounce on the opportunity to convince the Judges in charge of the Coinbase and Binance lawsuits to follow her judgment.
Which Is More Complicated? Binance Or Coinbase Lawsuit?
Per MetaLawMan, the Binance case appears more complicated because the world’s largest exchange issued Binance (BNB) coin, an asset SEC already tagged as security in the law court. MetaLawMan maintained that Binance hopes Judge Torres’ final ruling in the lawsuit between SEC and Ripple favors the cross-border crypto platform.
Judge Rearden would also preside over Binance’s lawsuit, and MetaLawMan thinks the judge’s final ruling would reflect the anticipated summary judgment in Ripple’s case by Judge Torres. Finally, MetaLawMan maintained that several years of appeals would be inevitable no matter the outcome of the final rulings in the Binance and Coinbase cases.
Read Also: Ripple CTO David Schwartz Debunks “Ripple Created XRP” Narrative, Tells Real Story
SEC’s Claim that XRP Secondary Sales Are Securities
For context, the SEC could not differentiate between investors who purchased XRP directly from Ripple and those who acquired the cross-border crypto asset from secondary markets, necessitating the SEC’s broad claims against Ripple with the possibility of implicating XRP trading on secondary markets.
However, Attorney John Deaton filed an amicus brief on behalf of thousands of XRP enthusiasts, eliminating the SEC’s plan of implying XRP secondary market sales to be security.
According to MetaLawMan, the legal cases against Binance and Coinbase will lose substance if Judge Analisa Torres rules that XRP secondary market sales are not securities.
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