XRP lawsuit outcome may depend on this ‘when and if’ scenario

Ripple Labs’ legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seems to evolve with every motion filed. However, in spite of a new angle emerging ever so often, there is a growing feeling among the XRP community that a settlement may be on the horizon.

As reported earlier, the San Francisco-based fintech firm demanded the disclosure of documents relating to SEC employees’ holdings in crypto tokens. Pursuant to that, in a recent development, attorney James K. Filan tweeted,

“The Court has granted motions to seal regarding 1) the Slack communications dispute and 2) the privileges disputes. The motions to seal were granted pending resolution of the underlying motions. Both are Text Only Orders.”

These mentioned “orders” are as below.

Source: Twitter

Notably, the key date here is August 31 as the court scheduled a hearing with both parties to discuss the privilege dispute that has been dragging for months. As reported before, the SEC fought against having to surrender its documents, stating, “they are protected under the DPP (deliberative process privilege),” which aims to protect not merely documents, but also the integrity of the deliberative process itself.

And now, come August 31, this hearing will play a crucial role. According to attorney Jeremy Hogan,

“…this upcoming hearing is very important because Ripple could potentially get some documents that could really help it advance its position that XRP is like Ether and in 2018 the SEC said Ether is not a security and therefore XRP is not a security.”

Hogan likened the on going back and forth in the XRP lawsuit to a chess match. He said,

“The SEC has deployed a Queen’s gambit in this litigation, sacrificing its position on the fair notice defense to solidify its central position that XRP was sold as security…And thus the gambit was set in motion…”

The attorney further explained SEC’s stance in this context. According to him, the SEC was going to “admit to some extent” that there was confusion about digital securities and eventually “strengthen its position” on XRP as security. Further, he also said that the dispute can resolve when and if “the SEC’s gambit fails” and that if the scenario plays out otherwise, this lawsuit is likely to spillover into 2022.