After Ripple’s response to SEC’s motion to compel Ripple to produce recordings of internal meetings, the deadline to conduct expert discovery has been set to 12 November 2021. This lawsuit has stretched longer than anyone had anticipated.
Attorney John Deaton, who is representing XRP holders in the SEC Ripple lawsuit, explained what is happening behind the scenes in a recent podcast. He said that Ripple will soon disclose their expert witnesses and,
“I would expect that David Schwartz will be one of their expert witnesses.”
He further speculated that Ripple might also bring onboard an independent industry expert in blockchain and decentralization.
In the last hearing, XRP holders were granted Amicus Curiae or “friend of the court” status, by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres. This essentially means that XRP holders are not the party to the case but have a bearing on issues that surround the case.
Deaton welcomed the decision and further explained that Judge Sarah Netburn is carrying out an in camera review of the submitted documents, adding,
“She’s going to give a decision whether or not the documents that the SEC are claiming are privileged, are in fact, privileged. And Ripple doesn’t get them. Or she’s going to declare that they’re not privileged.”
He further stated that there can also be an order of partial disclosure if the documents are relevant, even though privilege applies.
While a date for amicus review has not been set according to the schedule shared by lawyer James K. Filan, the hearing will determine some crucial facts.
Deaton explained, that if SEC’s internal analysis revealed that the regulator determined XRP was security in 2018, they can be asked to explain the delay in filing the lawsuit in late 2020. He further speculated on another incident right before Coinbase listed XRP in early 2019. He tweeted,
Coinbase and it’s lawyers conclude #XRP is not a security and inform the SEC it plans to list #XRP but wants to make sure its not running afoul of U.S. securities laws;
The SEC DOES NOT state it believes #XRP to be a security and on Feb. 28, 2019 Coinbase lists #XRP for trading;
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) October 11, 2021
Therefore, SEC can be required to explain the meeting which led to the approval, he explained.
