An unexpected turn: a real threat looms over Ripple
SEC lawyers have requested an extension of the Ripple trial, arguing that it would be "fairer and more efficient" to give the parties an additional 60 days to gather evidence before the hearing.
Sarah Netburn decided this week to approve the request despite Ripple's objections, writes forklog.
The deadline for the preliminary investigation will now be extended to August 31. During this period before the hearing, the parties can collect evidence in the case. Later they will be examined by experts, and their investigation will also be extended until October 15.
Further phases of the trial, which began in December 2020, will also be delayed by 60 days due to this court decision.
Cryptocurrency lawyer Jeremy Hogan, suggested that if consensus is not reached between the parties at an earlier stage, the case may not end until early 2022.
Ripple has previously asked the court to consider that any delay in litigation poses a "real threat" to its business in the United States. In particular, the company said its cross-border payments product, On-Demand Liquidity, could not operate effectively in the United States because exchanges were rejecting or suspending trading in XRP.
On the other hand, Judge Sarah Netburn denied the SEC's request for documents related to Ripple's lobbying efforts. This could be seen as a victory for the company, xrp-buy writes. The SEC has previously claimed that Ripple paid Chris Giancarlo, the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to publicly support its legal position.
In addition, the court granted defendants' motions for international discovery in the case. Ripple is seeking documents from multiple international exchanges, including Bitstamp and OKEx, to prove that their allegedly illegal sales only took place outside the United States and therefore cannot be subject to SEC regulation.