Pro-XRP attorney and crypto legal expert Jeremy Hogan has proposed a potential outcome for the ongoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple. In a tweet post, Hogan stated that a judge might rule that the sale of the payment token only violated U.S. securities law for a certain period.
Hogan made this claim in response to a tweet by cryptocurrency lawyer Bill Morgan, who brought attention to a Ripple filing from December 2022 in which the company cited the SEC’s own expert as indicating that Bitcoin and Ethereum gains “can explain as much as almost 90% of XRP returns” beginning in the middle of 2018.
Even the SEC admits that Ripple’s activities had little influence on XRP’s price since mid-2018. Thus, Hogan argues that “if the Judge in the Ripple case wanted to split the baby,’ she could rule that sales of XRP since then were not securities.”
In his own words: “What could that possibly mean?” Since XRP is the only coin with ‘clarity,’ Ripple would pay the punishment (which, by my estimations, it could afford) and continue operating as usual. Maybe by this time next year, Coinbase will only provide Bitcoin and XRP for purchase.
In a recent CNBC interview, Ripple Labs President Monica Long expressed optimism about the lawsuit’s outcome, stating that she expects the payment firm to prevail. Long also stated that she expects a decision to be made sometime this year.
In its action against Ripple, the SEC believes the firm illegally generated $1.3 billion via the sale of XRP coins. Ripple has responded to the claims by saying that XRP is not a security but rather a currency.
According to some commentators, the case has received a lot of attention from the crypto community, and the conclusion may have far-reaching repercussions for the sector. The value of XRP might drop, and regulatory scrutiny of other cryptocurrencies could grow if a court decides that the coin is a security.
