Godfrey Benjamin
XRP holders’ lawyer hints at possible end date for Ripple v. SEC lawsuit
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There has been significant progress in the ongoing legal brawl between Ripple Labs and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Despite this, the XRP holders’ lawyer in the lawsuit, John Deaton, believes there is more to come as the case enters the penalty phase.
The penalty phase is marked as the period in which the SEC is trying to hang onto the last straw it could by demanding a hefty settlement for the part of the case that the other party is allegedly guilty of. In the Ripple case, the court ruled that the firm’s institutional sales of XRP violate Federal Securities Laws and the SEC wants $770 million in settlement.
Commenting on this, John Deaton noted that this penalty phase is like a second case that has a lot of elements to it, including but not limited to “depositions, interrogatories, requests for production of documents, emails, bank statements, contracts, and ODL transactions.” He believes time will be expended before an actual agreement on the exact penalty fee is agreed upon between both parties.
Notably, the crypto law expert projects that the case may drag on until late summer next year as Ripple will do everything in its power to lower the amount payable.
Will the SEC still appeal?
It is worth noting that there are speculations that the Gary Gensler-led commission might be considering an appeal when the final verdict is eventually delivered by Judge Analisa Torres. While this possibility is noted, Deaton believes any form of appeal from the regulator will take at least another year.
The SEC was denied an interlocutory appeal earlier in the case, and the only option left for it will be to wait until the final judgment is handed down in the case. This speculation regarding an appeal may turn out against general expectations as the SEC refused to file a related appeal in its lawsuit with Grayscale.
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Godfrey Benjamin