Ripple Strikes Major Blow to SEC With Win in Court

It looks like Ripple Labs (XRP) may have found a few miracles in their corner after all!

On Friday, Judge Analisa Torres, a U.S. District Judge denied a request by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to dismiss Ripple’s fair notice defense.

The motion filed by the SEC sought to restrain Ripple’s argument that the agency failed to adequately warn it of wrongdoing.

XRP is a digital asset created by Ripple, a fintech company that provides banking and payment solutions to financial institutions worldwide. The commision’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs — the case has been active since Dec. 2020 — alleges that the sale of XRP tokens constituted an unregistered securities offering.

The SEC argues that through the sale of XRP, the San Francisco-based Ripple has raised over $1.3 billion and that such an action is in violation of existent securities laws, which according to the watchdog are clear on what constitutes a sale of unregistered securities.

Ripple has responded to the lawsuit, denying all of the SEC’s allegations, arguing that XRP is not a security, and therefore it is not subject to securities laws.

In her ruling, Judge Torres took Ripple’s side, disagreeing with the commision’s argument, stating:

The SEC does not contend that Ripple’s affirmative defense is untimely, and the Court shall not conclude, at this early stage of the case, that Ripple’s defense is invalid. Accordingly, the SEC’s motion to strike Ripple’s fair notice affirmative defense is DENIED.

Ripple’s general counsel, Stuart Alderoty had this to say following the judge’s order:

“Today’s order makes it clear there’s a serious question whether the SEC ever provided Ripple with fair notice that its distributions of XRP – since 2013 – would ever be prohibited under the securities law.”

Massive Win for XRP

Responding to the latest order from the court, Ripple’s top executives Brad Garlinghouse tweeted, “If you weren’t paying attention then, you should be now. Huge win for Ripple today!”

If you weren’t paying attention then, you should be now. Huge win for Ripple today! https://t.co/dMeUQuIPHM

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 11, 2022

Garlinghouse also lauded judge Torres’ decision, adding that it might be time “the sun sets on the SEC’s “regulation by enforcement” approach.”

Price Action

XRP price shot up nearly 15% after the news. At press time, it was changing hands below the $0.80 mark, up 7%, as per CMC.