In the legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the XRP army remains on edge as they await a potential ruling on remedies and penalties. The legal proceedings concluded 61 days ago with the latest regular filings. Speculation within the community is now running high, with members such as @CRYPTO_hitman pondering yesterday whether a decision would come as early as this week, tagging prominent pro-XRP advocates in the community including Jeremy Hogan, Bill Morgan, John E. Deaton, James “MetaLawMan” Murphy, and Fred Rispoli.
XRP lawsuit could end as early as Friday
Rispoli responded to the speculation with a striking prediction, stating: “The earliest I see it happening is Friday, the day before the anniversary of the summary judgment ruling. I’m still betting on (the) end of July as my personal prediction.”
Another pro-XRP attorney, Bill Morgan, jumped into the conversation and expanded on procedural details that could stand in the way of a final ruling on remedies and penalties. Morgan asked his colleague about an outstanding motion that Judge Sarah Netburn must rule on before Judge Analisa Torres can make a decision on penalties and remedies.
“Isn’t there a motion that is still open before Judge Netburn that needs to be decided before Judge Torres can make a decision on sentencing?” Morgan said. Rispoli clarified“Yes, that motion is still pending, but there is no procedural requirement that it be decided first. Both judges can deliberate and Torres can tell Netburn that her ruling no longer requires a decision on the expert/discovery issue.” Morgan acknowledged Rispoli’s clarification with a simple, “Thanks, Fred.”
This legal discourse follows Rispoli’s recent predictions, such as reported by Bitcoinist, where he suggested July 31 as a possible date for the ruling, though he noted that a decision could also come as early as July 13, which ties in with the anniversary of a pivotal Summary of judgment 2023This earlier ruling by Judge Torres ruled that XRP does not qualify as a security, a major victory for Ripple in its battle against the SEC.
However, as Morgan pointed out, there is still a motion that complicates the proceedings. On April 29, Ripple filed a “Motion to Strike,” a new expert brief presented by the SEC, which includes statements and exhibits from new experts witness Andrea Fox.
The outcome of Judge Netburn’s ruling on this motion could be crucial. If Judge Netburn rules in Ripple’s favor on this motion, Judge Torres would be able to move forward without the need for further rulings on this specific issue. However, as Rispoli speculates, this need not be an obstacle to the final ruling on remedies and penalties in the case. Therefore, a ruling could come as early as this week.
The XRP price does not reflect any expectations or hype about this speculation. At the time of writing, XRP was trading at $0.43.
Main image created with DALL·E, chart from TradingView.com