XRP lawsuit: Court’s latest ruling means the case is going to end… here’s when?

Over the past few months, ever since the United States Securities and Exchange Commission first filed charges against Ripple Labs, “small victories” have been hard to come by for the regulatory agency. While recent legal proceedings have seen the defendants find some success, the same hasn’t been true for the SEC.

Not anymore, however, with the latest development in the ongoing lawsuit between the SEC and Ripple firmly in favor of the former. In what is the latest development in the same, Judge Sarah Netburn has granted the SEC’s request to extend discovery deadlines. According to the judge’s order, the deadline to conduct fact discovery is extended up to the 31st of August while expert discovery has been extended to the 15th of October.

In its initial pleadings requesting the same, the SEC had argued that it needed additional time to “develop the factual record in the matter.” By granting such a request, the agency had asserted, the defendants would not suffer any “cognizable prejudice.”

Needless to say, Ripple itself wasn’t impressed by the SEC’s request, with the blockchain firm responding to the same by arguing otherwise and suggesting that the agency was yet to show good cause to extend discovery.

Here, it’s worth noting that Judge Netburn’s latest order on the SEC’s motion is a “text-only” order. Simply put, the judge did not publish her explanations or legal reasoning behind the grant of such a request.

Either way, the present development has fueled quite a few reactions online, especially among the XRP community. Attorney James Filan was one of those to comment on the same, with Filan stating,

“It could also be as simple as Judge Torres needing additional time to work through the substantive motions.”

Curiously, when the motion was first filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Filan had been quick to say that Judge Netburn won’t be particularly impressed since the motion “completely disrespected” her “strong and efficient handling of the case and her fast resolution of disputes.”

At the time of writing, the implications of Judge Netburn’s ruling on the present motion were also being realized by many in the community, with attorney Jeremy Hogan tweeting,

“Not unexpected, but this will push the entire case back 60 days. That would mean (quick calculations) Summary Judgment sometime in December/January. Absent a settlement, this case is going to end in early 2022!”

Ergo, it would seem that people were wrong to suggest that the SEC “has bitten off more than it can chew” when it first filed the motion.