Ripple Registers First Win In the SEC Lawsuit, Gets Access to SEC’s Documents for Bitcoin and Ethereum
San Francisco-based blockchain startup Ripple has secured its first win in the ongoing case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On Tuesday, April 6, Ripple Labs secured the access to the SEC’s documents and discussions on whether if XRP is similar to other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Ripple filed the motion last month compelling the SEC to share its documents. In its argument, the blockchain startup stated that “under a proper application of Howey, the economic substance of a transaction in XRP is no different from one in Bitcoin and Ether – Currencies that Director Hinman publicly stated were not securities.”
On the other hand, Ripple has made a similar statement during its preliminary response to the SEC lawsuit back in January 2021. The crypto startup noted: “How does the SEC explain telling the public that BTC and ETH are not securities, then turning around and alleging the opposite is true for XRP?”
The SEC’s basic argument was that Ripple’s XRP isn’t similar to Bitcoin and Ether since there was only one entity behind its creation. Now, in the latest hearing Judge Sarah Netburn has granted Ripple the access to SEC communications and “…. other information, such as SEC minutes and memos expressing the agency’s interpretation or views on crypto are likely discoverable.”
The two parties have been involved in a strong confrontation with both of them strongly defending their grounds. Ripple has strongly defended its ground claiming no wrongdoing with the sale of its XRP tokens. The blockchain startup has repeatedly said that XRP is in no way a ‘digital security’ but only a ‘digital currency’.
Over the last week, Ripple XRP has shown strong move in the market. On Tuesday, April 6, Ripple XRP surged past $1.00 for the very first time since in three years since April 2018. Also, it was the first time that XRP registered such a strong rally after the SEC lawsuit in December 2020.
However, the crypto market has entered strong correction as of writing this story. At press time, Ripple’s XRP has dropped 18% and is currently trading at $0.88 with a market cap of $40.7 billion.