Petition obliges SEC to disclose Bitcoin and Ethereum documentation
Justice of the Peace Sarah Netburn granted Ripple 2021 request for access to Securities Commission (SEC) documents disclosing the regulator’s” interpretation and views ” regarding Bitcoin and Ethereum. This is reported by Law360.
The company will have access to the minutes of meetings and official documents. Email correspondence between SEC employees is not subject to disclosure. The regulator may challenge the decision.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed satisfaction with this development.
Garlinghouse’s legal adviser Matthew Solomon believes that the judge’s decision could be the reason for the dismissal of the SEC’s claim. His words are quoted by Law360.
At the end of January 2021, Ripple filed a petition and asked for information on why the agency does not classify Ethereum as a securities. The document spoke about “China’s control” over bitcoin and the second largest cryptocurrency by capitalization.
According to the defendants’ intention, the release of such information should demonstrate the groundlessness of the SEC’s accusations.
The commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020. The regulator charged the company, Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen with an unregistered sale of $1.3 billion in XRP.
Lawyer Jeremy Hogan noted that back in 2016, the SEC referred to Ripple Labs as a “digital currency company”. In fact, the regulator then agreed with the interpretation of the Financial Crimes Network in relation to XRP.
"Now the SEC must explain to the court how" digital currency "turned into a digital security" - the lawyer wrote.
Hogan previously said that an SEC lawyer confirmed in court that exchanges and other platforms do not violate the Commission’s guidelines when selling XRP.
In anticipation of listing on Coinbase and a positive outcome of the lawsuit with the SEC, the XRP token has risen in price by 71.8% over the past seven days. On March 6, the price exceeded the psychological mark of $1. Hopefully this year we will know a little more about SEC’s activities thanks to Ripple’s dedication.