Stuart Alderoty Says Ripple is Close to Ending SEC Lawsuit

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO), has expressed optimism about the company drawing closer to the end of the SEC’s lawsuit. 

He made the comment shortly after the SEC publicly submitted its redacted remedies-related reply and supporting briefs to Ripple’s opposition. According to Alderoty, the SEC’s remedies reply brings Ripple closer to putting the lawsuit behind it. 

Meanwhile, Alderoty acknowledged that while Ripple is now close to seeing the end of the SEC lawsuit, it is unfortunate that other crypto businesses are just starting the process of legal tussle against the regulatory agency.

More of the same from the SEC — failing to faithfully apply the law and trying to pull the wool over the Judge’s eyes. The good news is that we are closer than ever to putting this lawsuit behind us, though unfortunately, many are just starting the journey. We trust the Court… https://t.co/JGhxAtOuk1

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) May 7, 2024

Multi-Year Legal Tussle Approaches Its End 

For the uninitiated, the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit officially commenced in December 2020, when the regulator charged the payments company with violating U.S. securities laws by offering and selling XRP as an unregistered security. 

The legal tussle had a devastating impact on Ripple’s business and its affiliated cryptocurrency XRP especially in the U.S.  While Ripple changed its business strategy, focusing mainly on non-U.S. clients, multiple trading platforms in the country, including Coinbase and Kraken, delisted XRP. 

Interestingly, these exchanges reversed their positions and relisted the coin after Judge Analisa Torres declared XRP programmatic sales non-investment contracts. 

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It has been nearly three and a half years, and the lawsuit is still ongoing. Nonetheless, the SEC’s final reply brings Ripple an inch closer to the end of the multi-year legal tussle. 

Following the SEC’s reply, Judge Torres will now schedule a date to issue the final verdict. Although the verdict can be released at any time, popular crypto expert Ashley Prosper expects it to come between July and September. 

While Ripple is almost at the end of its battle, other crypto-related businesses, including Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, are just starting their own. The SEC has also issued a Wells Notice to Ethereum and Robinhood, suggesting that an enforcement action is imminent. 

Ripple CLO Slams SEC Reply 

Meanwhile, Alderoty took a swipe at the SEC over its remedies reply. He accused the regulator of not faithfully applying the law as part of efforts to deceive the judge. 

Despite this, the Ripple CLO expects the judge to be impartial and fair in her remedies ruling. 

More of the same from the SEC — failing to faithfully apply the law and trying to pull the wool over the Judge’s eyes. The good news is that we are closer than ever to putting this lawsuit behind us, though unfortunately, many are just starting the journey. We trust the Court… https://t.co/JGhxAtOuk1

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) May 7, 2024

Did SEC Take an Indirect Shot at Other International Financial Authorities? 

In a follow-up tweet, Alderoty pointed out that the SEC disregarded other international financial regulators in its recent filing. According to the Ripple CLO, the SEC likened crypto licenses issued by these international regulators to nothing more than fishing licenses. 

He attached an excerpt from the SEC’s reply brief, showing how the SEC indirectly made the characterization. 

“This argument [Ripple using the licenses it obtained from other jurisdictions to back up its claim of not planning to violate U.S. securities laws in the future] is akin to saying a New York restaurant need not obtain a liquor store license because it obtained a fishing license in California,” the SEC said in its reply.  

And just when you think the SEC can’t sink any lower, if you are a financial regulator outside the U.S. and have done the hard work of establishing comprehensive crypto licensing frameworks, know that the SEC has no respect for you and thinks you are handing out the equivalent of… pic.twitter.com/7qZQIkyrH4

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) May 7, 2024