Ripple XRP Strikes Big Blow To SEC With Court Win

Ripple, the firm that created the XRP cryptocurrency, has won a significant court win against the Securities and Exchange Commission

Judge Analisa Torres, a United States District Judge, refused the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) motion to dismiss XRP Ripple’s fair notice claim on Friday. The SEC’s move aimed to pre-empt Ripple’s argument that the agency failed to appropriately notify it of potential misconduct.

The motions were filed in April by two top Ripple executives. The court concludes that the agency has presented a plausible case that Garlinghouse and Larsen acted recklessly in disregarding the evidence “that purportedly equated Ripple’s XRP to an unregistered security transaction.” Additionally, the SEC has “plausibly shown” that the individual defendants made domestic token offerings. Additionally, the court disregarded the defendants’ contention that their sales were primarily international. Additionally, the judge refused the SEC’s move to strike Ripple’s “fair notice” claim, which is a make-or-break defense.

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s general counsel, has already chimed in on the decision to dismiss the SEC’s motion to strike, stating that there is a “genuine issue” about whether the agency provided proper notice to the firm.

The Ripple case, which was brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2020, has been a thorn in the side of XRP holders, who remain hopeful that the two sides will reach an agreement without going to trial in its entirety, or, better yet, that the trial will be as brief as possible.