As the legal battle between Ripple Labs and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to await a decision from Judge Analisa Torres of the United States Southern District Court in New York, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer spoke out with a striking statement on Twitter. .
The belligerent statement comes at a time when the SEC is waging a supposed “Operation Choke Point 2.0” against the crypto industry, and also faces the first day of trial in two weeks in the dispute over a spot Bitcoin ETF with Grayscale.
Ripple’s Stuart Alderoty declared that the SEC lost a total of four of the five cases that went to the Supreme Court:
The SEC has lost 4 of its last 5 Supreme Court cases, thanks to the few people who had the courage and resources to fight back against SEC bullying and cling to stretched legal positions that weren’t not loyal to the law.
Is Ripple ready to fight in the Supreme Court?
The statement is causing a stir in the XRP community in that the reference of the statement is not entirely clear. Does Alderoty imply that Ripple is willing to go to the Supreme Court in the event of an unfavorable outcome of the lawsuit? Or is Alderoty simply pointing out that the SEC often has a bad record against powerful opponents who oppose the agency’s overreach?
XRP community advocate John E. Deaton referenced Alderoty’s statement. The last sentence is particularly noteworthy, in which Deaton states that the summary judgment brief could already be a preliminary to an appellate brief:
I have no doubt that Ripple will win and the current Supreme Court will put an end to the SEC’s overreach. The West Virginia vs. EPA case is all you need to read to agree with me. Ripple’s summary judgment brief is already an extremely well-written appellate brief.
In the case cited by Deaton, the Supreme Court ruled that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not have the power of Congress to limit emissions from existing power plants by shifting production to sources cleaner.
Deaton is likely referring to the fact that the SEC is overstepping its authority with the XRP securities lawsuit and that only Congress can provide regulatory clarity. The Supreme Court has the power to require it.
At this point, however, there is no clear indication from any Ripple executive that the company is ready to continue its fight in the Supreme Court. Over the past few months, several Ripple executives have repeatedly expressed optimism about a successful outcome of the court case.
At press time, XRP was trading at $0.3923, seeing a rejection at key resistance at $0.4083 yesterday.
Featured image by Adam Szuscik / Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com
