Although Ripple assured that it has no intention of settling with the SEC, the current situation may make it necessary to end the dispute.
Ripple vs. SEC: Time to Settle? The court dispute between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains ongoing. While it is still too early to point to a possible winner, the idea of a possible settlement between the parties is gaining more and more traction, especially in light of the current situation in the crypto market.
The lawyer and legal counsel, Jeremy Hogan, points to the idea of a settlement by sharing his opinions on the ongoing case. He anticipates that the dispute could end between September and November if the parties manage to finalize an agreement to put the argument aside and continue each one focused on their business.
Great analysis by @ADingoAteMyXRP.
— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) September 5, 2022
One thing I’m interested to see soon in the summary judgment briefings is to what extent Ripple makes the comparison between XRP and ETH. https://t.co/e6aoWjojRw
According to Hogan, the current point is the “ideal and most logical” moment for both parties to agree. After several sessions, they finally exposed the totality of the allegations.
In this regard, the attorney expressed:
“[The] most likely settlement period is from now until the end of November because the cards will be on the table.“
Specific sources stated a year ago that Ripple was not interested in reaching an agreement with the SEC. Ripple officials alleged that the regulator’s position degrades the legal framework:
“… People close to @Ripple say that while the @SEC_Enforcement has hurt local business with the XRP case, XRP is thriving overseas, further proof that the @SECGov’s cryptocurrency enforcement agenda is forcing innovation to happen outside the U.S.“
The SEC doesn’t seem to be clear yet
While the possibility of a settlement is gaining traction, Hogan believes that the SEC is not yet acting appropriately. He bases his opinion on what it has done in recent months. According to Jeremy Hogan, the SEC cannot win the lawsuit because it filed charges against Ripple seven years later. That was the time when Ripple sold the Securities. The company didn’t unequivocally see how XRP could be a Security. The regulator had similar doubts in 2012.
Citing recent acts, Hogan points out that the SEC as a regulator should offer much more clarity to the crypto industry by putting firm pleadings on which of the significant market assets are listed as securities or not:
“The SEC should be able to go through a list of the top 20 cryptocurrencies and tell us which ones are (and are not) securities. Why not? Why CHOOSE ambiguity, isn’t it supposed to protect us from these projects that don’t comply with the law?“
Remember that the SEC is investigating leading crypto exchanges, including Binance, operating in the U.S. for reportedly trading with securities in its “tokenized form.“
Does Ripple have the upper hand?
As for Ripple, the company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, repeatedly stated that the course of the case appears to tip the scales in favor of the Blockchain services company.
Throughout the trial, Ripple’s team has achieved several small victories, including access to communications and reports. They also reviewed the evaluation of other cases in the industry and the dismissal of witnesses and influential figures, among others. It is evident to Garlinghouse that the XRP token is not a security. He reiterates that it is inappropriate for the SEC to assign such a definition based on laws dating back to the 1930s.
While things seem to be going in Ripple’s favor, the company has also alleged that the SEC’s actions have negatively impacted its operations. Some of the operational problems derive from delisting XRP from trading on exchanges. Other problems were the closure of certain trading agreements due to the bad reputation created by the legal dispute.