Ripple Labs and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continue their legal battle. Drawing November 30 as a climactic date that determines the course for the outcome of the lawsuit whether the sale of Ripple’s XRP token would be deemed as unregistered securities.
The Latest Timeline On Ripple Vs. SEC Lawsuit
According to Bill Morgan, a renowned lawyer, and crypto enthusiast, November 30 could be a crucial date for both Ripple and the SEC lawsuit in which parties have to file their summary judgment briefs. He shared his sentiments on Twitter stating that Ripple’s reply may be one of the most telling documents filed in the case to date.
On December 2, the two parties will meet to discuss which parts of the filings should be redacted. Further, on December 5 Ripple’s and the SEC’s briefs will be made public. Ultimately, on December 22, the omnibus motions to seal all documents related to the summary judgment motions will be filed.
James Filan, the defense lawyer, predicts that Judge Torres will decide both the Expert Motions and the Summary Judgment motions at the same time, which is on or before March 31, 2023.
Ripple’s Real Leverage In The Lawsuit Against SEC
Bill Morgan, has said that a settlement agreement between the SEC and Ripple is possible. The lawyer claims that Ripple’s possession of recordings of Hinman’s speech has given the crypto company some real leverage. In a speech in 2018, William Hinman, former Corporation Finance Division Director of SEC, said that he does not consider Ether (ETH) as a security.
Morgan said that the regulator might settle in order to keep the data of recordings of Hinman’s speech undisclosed. Thus Hinman documents confidentiality might be a term of settlement. John Deaton, another renowned crypto lawyer and founder of legal and regulatory digital asset news company CryptoLaw, noted the conditions for the settlement. According to him, either the SEC giving Hinman’s documents would prompt a settlement or SEC will seek LBRY’s token, LBC, to be recognized as a security.
Hinman appeared to endorse the broad sentiment held by most in the crypto industry that digital assets are not securities. Ripple is taking a similar stance, thus Hinman’s speech is highly relevant to the case and will eradicate the borderline of regulation in the crypto sector.