This was announced on Platform X by Ripple Labs Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty. Ripple is preparing to file a formal response next month as the regulator makes false and misinterpreted statements to mislead the court, a lawyer claims. He added: Instead of faithfully applying the law, the SEC continues to seek to punish and intimidate not only Ripple, but the entire cryptocurrency industry. Alderoti hopes the court will make a fair decision.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also criticized the SEC's approach, calling the requested amount of fines excessive. He noted recent court decisions on claims by other cryptocurrency companies, where judges did not support the SEC. For example, last week the Utah District Court imposed sanctions on the SEC for unfair actions against the crypto company Debt Box and abuse of its powers. As for Ripple itself, last year a court ruled that XRP sold on the secondary market is not a security. Garlinghouse argues that the SEC is ignoring legal precedents and not paying enough attention to combating actual securities fraud.
“The SEC and its Chairman Gary Gensler have repeatedly acted outside the law, and this has not gone unnoticed by the judges. Even the courts realized that the agency was grossly abusing the power entrusted to it by Congress. It’s strange that Gensler forgot about the FTX crypto exchange scam and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried,”
wrote Garlinghouse.
In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple, alleging that the company raised more than $1.3 million in an unregistered ICO. The regulator claims that XRP is an investment contract, so the altcoin should be regulated as a security. However, Ripple management does not agree with the SEC's accusations.
Recently, Garlinghouse expressed optimism that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to XRP should be launched in the US sooner or later. However, the head of Ripple did not talk about the company’s plans in this direction.
Source: Bits
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