Ripple Vs. SEC: Lawyer Predicts No Settlement Until After Decision by Judge

Posted on January 13, 2023
News
By Mark Otto
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Attorney John Deaton, who is proactively supporting more than 75,000 XRP investors in the legal fight between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through an amicus brief, has published his predictions for the year 2023 on Twitter. Even though the statements come a bit late – one prediction has already come […][...]

Even though the statements come a bit late – one prediction has already come true – there is one prediction in particular that is causing a stir. In a tweet, the lawyer deeply involved in the litigation wrote:

1) The Ripple case does not settle until AFTER we get a decision from Judge Torres; 2) An exchange (maybe more than one) is sued for selling unregistered securities; 3) Investigation into SBFraud meetings uncovers bad stuff; 4) Gensler resigns before the EOY.

What Does This Mean For Ripple?

The thesis that has received the most attention is the one about the outcome of the court case. The XRP community was initially confused by the prediction that the Ripple case would only see a settlement after a decision by Judge Analisa Torres. Because of the confusion, Deaton laid out in a follow-up tweet:

Some people are confused about my prediction that the Ripple case doesn’t settle until AFTER Judge Torres renders a decision. A settlement could occur after which would eliminate any potential jury trial and also eliminate any potential appeal.

As Bitcoinist reported, Deaton shared just about two weeks ago that he expects a verdict from Judge Analisa Torres and not a settlement between Ripple and the SEC. The attorney reasoned that the Hinman documents are probably not as much of a bargaining chip for Ripple as originally thought after all.

Deaton speculated that the only other reason for the SEC and chairman Gary Gensler to avoid a verdict is that the Ripple case sets a bad precedent. Hence, Deaton said:

I don’t believe he’s going to settle and publicly agree that ongoing and future XRP sales, including in the secondary market, are non-securities.

Deaton Is Right On Number 2

Deaton’s second prophecy has already come true. Back in July last year, the lawyer first predicted that the SEC will target cryptocurrency exchanges and sue them. Yesterday, when the SEC charges against Gemini exchange and crypto broker Genesis for selling crypto products that are allegedly unregistered securities became public, prediction number 2 was already fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Gensler’s action is being heavily criticized in the crypto industry, as the SEC chairman is once again – as in the FTX case – acting when it is already too late. Criticism has even come from politicians.

Congressman for Minnesota Tom Emmer stated, “Gary Gensler is once again late to the game, ‘protecting’ no one. Quite clear that his political ‘regulation through enforcement’ strategy hurts everyday Americans.”

In recent days, the XRP price has shown strong momentum and broke through the important resistance at $0.3732. At press time, the price stood at $0.3779.