Ripple v. SEC case update as of June 5, 2023
While the cryptocurrency sector is waiting for the June 13 release of the controversial documents in the legal standoff between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and blockchain firm Ripple, an important hearing awaits that could have an effect on the case, as well as the future of crypto assets.
As it happens, the US Congress’ House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture has announced a hearing called ‘The Future of Digital Assets: Providing Clarity for Digital Asset Spot Markets’ for June 6, which Ripple’s Senior Director of Global Policy Susan Friedman said was important for crypto in her tweet on June 1.
“While the upcoming June 13 HFSC hearing is an important one for crypto, the one being held next week by House Committee on Agriculture is equally so. Congressman Glenn Thompson has been a steadfast supporter of the call for clarity in this space.”
Among other speakers, the meeting will hear Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer (CLO) at crypto trading platform Coinbase, who has also shared his anticipation regarding the June 6 hearing in his tweet on June 2, adding that the crypto market regulation bill from congressmen Patrick McHenry and Glenn Thompson “lays a strong foundation for regulatory jurisdiction and definitions, BD rules, and consumer protections.”
Secondary market sales
More recently, pro-XRP lawyer Jeremy Hogan shared an excerpt from the US Supreme Court case ‘Slack v. Pirani’ that came out last week and which he described as “analogous to XRP in the secondary market if/where the XRP was sold as an ‘investment contract.’”
As he added, “XRP doesn’t magically maintain status as a ‘security outside the context of the initial ‘contract,’” highlighting the passage in the excerpt which says that:
“Section 11 of the 1933 Act requires a plaintiff to plead and prove that he purchased securities registered under a materially misleading registration statement. (…) The majority of courts have for years held that §11(a) liability extends only to shares that are traceable to an allegedly defective registration.”
Furthermore, replying to a commenter wondering about the effect of the above case on the Ripple lawsuit, Hogan explained that he expected to see it in a Ripple brief on damages or in the Order by Judge Analisa Torres if she addresses secondary market sales.
Meanwhile, the XRP token, which is at the center of the lawsuit, was at press time changing hands at the price of $0.54, up 1.66% on the day and gaining 11.32% across the previous week, as it advanced by a solid 15.64% on its monthly chart, according to the data retrieved on June 5.
Source: Finbold - Finance in Bold
