XRP holders claim major victory over SEC as court grants permission to file motion to intervene

In what is a major victory for many in the XRP Community, Attorney John Deaton has been granted permission to file a motion to intervene in the ongoing case between the SEC and Ripple Labs on behalf of a section of XRP holders by Judge Analisa Torres. In an order passed a few hours ago, Judge Torres ruled that the said motion to intervene must be filed no later than 19 April, following which any opposition and response papers can be filed by 3 May.

While the said development is big news for Deaton and many XRP advocates, it’s a huge blow to the SEC, especially since the regulatory agency has previously argued against such motions to intervene being allowed by the court. A few days ago, both the plaintiff and the defendants in the aforementioned case had written to Judge Torres, with both parties taking opposite positions on the question of Deaton’s intended motion to intervene.

At the time, while Ripple Labs had stated that “Intervenors should be permitted to proceed with their motion to clarify” the issues improperly explained by the SEC’s amended complaint, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission contended,

“If the Court permitted Movants to intervene, it would be logic-bound to allow all investors and interested members of the public with differing viewpoints to intervene in the underlying actions.”

The SEC had also said that such an intervention would “create an avalanche of claims and near-certainty of undue delay, complexity, and confusion.”

To the same, Deaton claimed that the SEC “is clearly trying to make me look bad by claiming that my motivation in seeking to intervene is for profit-taking.” According to him, the agency’s response was “the most misleading letter that I’ve ever read submitted to a Court.”

The @SEC_Enforcement letter to Judge Torres objecting to our motion to intervene is the most misleading letter that I’ve ever read submitted to a Court.

SEC Attorney Jorge Tenreiro wrote the following:

“Movants primary motivation appears to be to reinstate speculative

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) March 29, 2021

The SEC’s contentions were in response to the pre-motion letter filed by Deaton on the 19th of March, a letter which asserted that XRP Holders’ interests “are not adequately represented by either parties” as the “holders of XRP cannot objectively rely on Ripple’s efforts.”