The SEC trial against Ripple could end soon now that a motion for a speedy trial has been filed.
The trial between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs, for the sale of “unlicensed securities in the form of tokens” since 2013, could end soon, as both parties have requested a speedy trial.
On Sunday, September 18, Ripple Labs defense attorney James K. Filan posted a tweet noting that current CEO Brad Garlinghouse and former CEO Christian Larsen have filed an early motion for summary judgment.
Summary judgments may occur when the parties filing the motion are able to demonstrate that there are no disputes genuine. In this case, filing the motion could indicate that neither the plaintiff nor the defendant wants the legal action to develop into a full trial.
Ripple clings to the fact that the SEC has no jurisdiction over foreign transactions involving XRP, claiming that the transactions took place on foreign exchanges such as Binance or Bithumb.
They also claim that the SEC cannot prove that the transfer of XRP involves an “investment contract,” something necessary for the Howey Test to qualify an asset as a security.
On Ripple officials They state that “there can be no investment contract unless the investor acquires a contractual right to demand and receive part of the benefits generated by the promoter’s activities.”
For the moment, The SEC has been unable to demonstrate that an investment contract exists without these components, which is why Ripple has filed the motion to request summary judgment.
How important is summary judgment in SEC vs. Ripple?
If the court grants summary judgment, the case could be decisive for the future of cryptocurrencies, as would lay the groundwork for determining which cryptocurrencies are securities (securities) and whether or not they are under the jurisdiction of the SEC.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler spoke out last week, saying, “The vast majority of cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets are securities".
On the other hand, the White House published last week a regulatory framework which will serve as the basis for the creation of laws governing cryptocurrencies in the United StatesThe framework, which was generally well received, has received criticism from a portion of the crypto community who believe it remains unclear.
Why did the SEC sue Ripple?
The SEC's case against Ripple centers on the allegation that its token, XRP, is an unregistered security and that Ripple Labs and its former CEO raised $1.300 billion through sales of these unregistered tokens.
Ripple, for its part, claims that its native token is not a security and rejects the SEC's accusations.
Since the trial began in 2020, the SEC has been making efforts to expand the charges to include company executives and to secure the personal financial records of Garlinghouse and Larsen.
The SEC has objected to a judge's order requiring the agency to disclose drafts of a 2018 speech by William Hinman, former director of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance, in which he stated that Bitcoin and Ethereum are not securities and are therefore not subject to the regulator's supervision.
In January 2022, Ripple was granted permission to access a document containing quotes from the former agency official, with these quotes being one of the pillars of the summary judgment motion.
Last August, Ripple scored a small legal victory, when a judge granted its defendants' motion to authenticate videos of seven public comments made by SEC officials, while dismissing the SEC's claim that the defendants were attempting to reopen discovery.
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