Highlights
- Ripple Labs executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen have hired same lawyers.
- Garlinghouse and Larsen likely seeking to dismiss the charges against them amid change of law firm.
- XRP price rises 1% amid rebound in broader crypto market.
Ripple vs SEC lawsuit: Ripple Labs executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen have hired key attorneys to dismiss claims again in the XRP lawsuit. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has requested the second circuit court to set January 15, 2025 as the deadline for its principal brief regarding the appeals.
Ripple Executives Seek to Dismiss Charges in SEC Lawsuit
Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen are likely seeking to dismiss the charges against them first, hiring the same lawyers. However, Cleary Gottlieb partner Matthew Solomon and XRP holders lawyer John Deaton has filed as non-admitted attorney. It means their appearance in the appeals will be limited.
According to a court filing, law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison no longer represents Chris Larsen. This happened on the same day the appeals court sent notice to Chris Larsen for failing to submit notice of appearance.
Now, the legal team that represented Garlinghouse earlier will also represent Chris Larsen. This include Cleary Gottlieb’s attorneys Nowell Bamberger, Rahul Mukhi, and Samuel Levander, as per the latest filing.
They were also in the team for successfully obtaining the dismissal of all claims for Garlinghouse in Ripple vs SEC lawsuit.
What They Have Appealed in XRP Lawsuit
The US SEC included securities law violation charges against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen in the appeals filing recently. The agency has filed appealed XRP sales by Ripple, Garlinghouse and Larsen, as well as XRP distribution to employees and others by the company.
Meanwhile, Ripple is questioning whether an “investment contract” must have a contract, post-sales obligations of seller, and profit dependent on seller’s activities. It also counter-appeals if district court’s rulings are erred and how years old Howey test applies to crypto. The company also revived the fair notice defense in appeals filing.
Ripple and its executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen ensuring to have binding precedents from the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. However, former SEC lawyer Marc Fagel asserts that the SEC dropped charges of aiding & abetting Ripple’s unregistered institutional sales only and other claims against executives were not dropped.
XRP price jumped nearly 1% in the past 24 hours, with the price currently trading at $0.518. The 24-hour low and high are $0.511 and $0.520, respectively. Furthermore, the trading volume has increased by 60% in the last 24 hours, indicating a rise in interest among traders.
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