Judge Netburn, the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit resident Judge ruled in favor of Ripple as the crypto firm racks minor victory in the latest court session.
Ripple’s judicial face-off with the United States’s Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lasted over a year now. It began in December 2020 when the SEC filed a lawsuit against the crypto firm citing Ripple’s trade of its XRP crypto tokens as an unregistered security.
Judge Netburn’s Ruling
The latest court session of the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit has developed as concluded in a crucial win for the Ripple crypto firm. The win came in form of a ruling by US federal Judge Sarah Netburn, when she sustained Ripple’s argument to peruse the SEC’s relevant documents that classifies XRP as a security, and the subsequent admittance of SEC official, William Hinman’s previous statements about Ethereum, XRP and securities as evidence.
William Hinman’s speech that was previously aired on mainstream media was the highlight of today’s court session. The speech detailed Hinman’s disclosure about Ethereum not being security at a crypto summit last year. Interestingly, Hinman stated that Ethereum, which is in the same digital assets class as the XRP was not a security, this statement effectively undermines the SEC’s case against Ripple.
However, shortly after giving the securities speech, Hinman claimed that his statements represented his stance on the issue and that they were not made in an official capacity. The SEC team argued along the same line, stating that the speech is qualified to be protected by the Deliberative Process Privilege.
Judge Netburn however thought otherwise as she dismissed the SEC’s argument and ruled against the speech’s privileged qualifications as she ordered that the speech be admitted as evidence in the lawsuit.
The speech might become the pivot that will determine the outcome of the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit; its relevance is seen as it remains the highlight of the year-long ongoing lawsuit.
SEC Vs Ripple: SEC’s Claims
In the lawsuit that the SEC filed against Ripple, the SEC claims that Ripples executives were aware that their proprietary XRP crypto token was security but failed to register it nonetheless, effectively profiting from the sales of the token in the crypto market space.
SEC Vs Ripple: Ripple’s Reply
Unlike all other SEC convicted crypto entities, Ripple chose to fight the lawsuit rather than settle. The crypto firm is convinced that the commission is a local bully due to its unscrupulous enforcement actions in the US crypto industry.
Ripple cited the lack of clear regulations and prior compliance guidelines from the commission and vowed to fight the financial watchdog in the court of law.
SEC’s Apparent Ethereum Bias
The Ripple team also cited Ethereum’s free pass in its retort. The SEC has seemingly ignored the Ethereum cryptocurrency as it claims that the token is not a security as it is fully decentralized.
The breakthrough point of the lawsuit will be the proof of SEC bias, should ripple be able to prove that the SEC is biased in its exclusion of Ethereum as security it will have the last laugh.
The Ripple team is currently doing just that, the team hopes to discredit the SEC by uncovering its reasons for exempting Ethereum by listing it as a non-security. This is why today’s win is very crucial for Ripple as it tilts victory in the firm’s direction.
Ripple’s Resilience
What is considered a minor victory now might not be the case come April as experts are convinced that the lawsuit will have wrapped up by then. The breakthrough point in the SEC lawsuit has just been grasped by the Ripple team through their unrelenting pursuit and doggedness over the last couple of months.
The good news saw XRP pump by approximately 2.7% to reach $0.7894.
The lawsuit that saw XRP dump to half its original price value and lose its tracking position behind industry forerunners Ethereum and Bitcoin is now being tracked by the totality of the crypto industry globally.
