Why 17th Feb. Is Crucial In Ripple Vs SEC Case?

Mystery behind the sealed memos? SEC vs Ripple lawsuit is picking up heat and next few moves may decide the fate of the XRP token. One such move was Judge Analisa’s ruling last week to unseal and release two memos termed as a piece of key evidence in the case. The deadline to unseal the memos publicly is February 17th, 2022.

What’s Behind the Sealed Memos? 

Here is what both parties think about the ruling to unseal memos:

• As reported by reuters, SEC believes the documents show that Ripple and Christian Larsen were well aware of the risk if XRP token would be deemed a security under federal law. Ripple and the government have presented completely different accounts of what Ripple’s outside counsel has said in those two memos.
• On the other hand, Ripple and Larsen say that regulators are mischaracterizing the memos. They said the documents show that Ripple’s lawyers ultimately concluded its tokens were not securities.

However, the mystery shall be solved on or before Feb. 17th as Judge Torres recently announced to unseal and release two memos publicly.

Reportedly, Ripple and Larsen were resistant to this ruling. They even argued in letter motions to Torres that the memos should remain under seal. The public release of these memos is also considered as a critical test of the SEC’s ability to regulate cryptocurrency offerings.

Crypto vs XRP; Are Rules different for Ripple? 

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had already alleged that Ethereum was given a regulatory green light that enabled it to surpass the XRP token. The SEC has been pursuing Ripple over claims that XRP is an investment contract and thus a security under the Howey Test.

John E Deaton, the attorney for the XRP Holders in the case, took to Twitter to share his view over SEC’s claims against XRP. In his opinion, while other private entities are using XRP token for enabling crypto transactions, why only Ripple is being targeted?

He believes SECs investigation is biased and that rules are not same for Ripple and crypto. Do you agree with John’s views?