Ripple Bolsters Defense Against SEC With Prior Supreme Court Ruling: Good Move Or Bad?

The post Ripple Bolsters Defense Against SEC With Prior Supreme Court Ruling: Good Move Or Bad? appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States has launched a lawsuit against Ripple, alleging that the business offered unregistered securities in the form of XRP. Ripple denies the allegations and claims that XRP is digital money, not security. The outcome of the lawsuit will decide how XRP and possibly other cryptocurrencies are regulated. The court case is still pending.

The case has undergone a number of developments and has been in the news. Everyone is on the edge of their seat. Another update has arrived that could be a game-changer.

Filan Cites Bittner v. U.S.

James K. Filan, a former federal prosecutor, has been offering updates and forecasts on the Ripple v. SEC lawsuit ever since it was first filed. He recently tweeted that Ripple has submitted a letter in support of its fair notice defence in a recent Supreme Court case.

The letter cites a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bittner v. U.S. He further stated that this conclusion substantially favours the Defendants’ fair notice defence because the government’s earlier instruction appears to contradict its current litigating position.

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP Ripple files Letter Regarding recent Supreme Court case that supports Ripple’s Fair Notice Defense. “This opinion strongly supports Defendants’ fair notice defense. . . . [because] the government’s prior guidance https://t.co/bXwiI3IDVj… https://t.co/9Zv6RKBXoc

— James K. Filan (@FilanLaw) March 3, 2023

Significantly, two of the judges who voted for the majority in the most recent decision supported their viewpoint by citing the rule of lenity. It requires that, in cases where the law is ambiguous, the court should find in the defendant’s favour.

Ripple Fair Notice Defence

Attorney John Deaton, who is representing thousands of XRP holders as amicus curiae in the dispute, has attempted to debunk the impression that Ripple is filing this now because they are less confident in their position. The founder of CryptoLaw emphasised that the verdict, which was handed out just four days ago, could be significant in the Ripple case.

A lot of people are speculating on why @Ripple would file this now. Some people are saying its b/c Ripple knows it will lose or b/c they’re less confident. It’s a very simple reason why it was filed. The decision is from the Supreme Court and it was handed down only 4 days ago. https://t.co/Rqa3ysboaM

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) March 3, 2023

Deaton contends that if Judge Analisa Torres determines that there were instances in which the blockchain payments company offered XRP as a security, it might support Ripple’s fair notice case. The lawyer stated that he was more certain that Ripple would prevail if the matter went before the Supreme Court after the most recent Supreme Court decision.

Good Move or Risky?

Yet, not everyone agrees that the opinion referenced by Ripple in its most recent filing is a good precedent. Former SEC regional director and securities attorney Marc Fagel called the latest effort by the typically clever Ripple lawyers a “risky manoeuvre.” Fagel said that the SEC’s attorneys will probably highlight this in any prospective rebuttal.

Good question. If I were still at the SEC, I’d be all over this—Gorsuch couldn’t even get the rest of his majority to sign on to this part of the opinion! The Ripple lawyers I know are incredibly smart, but this was a risky move.

— Marc Fagel (@Marc_Fagel) March 3, 2023

To conclude

The decision of the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit is just around the corner. Many are saying Judge Torres will give a ruling this month.