The lawsuit against Ripple It’s slowly coming to an end after more than two years, but there’s still a lot going on that Ripple’s supporters aren’t happy about. For example, the “XRP community” is not happy with how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated the lawsuit. Noted attorney John Deaton believes Ripple can subpoena two SEC leaders.
Can Ripple Subpoena Top SEC Executives?
At the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) describes XRP community member Digital asset investor the Ethereum (ETH) actually received an exemption the SEC for issues with policymakers. The Ethereum Foundation received a boost in 2018 thanks to a speech by former SEC Director Bill Hinman. He explained that like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum is not a form of (unregistered) security.
Ripple has not received this status for XRP, which has prompted the SEC to file a lawsuit against Ripple. However, the tweeter believes that Ripple’s top executives could subpoena then-SEC executives Jay Clayton and Bill Hinman, as well as two attorneys they allegedly worked with.
Hinman is definitely allowed to testify. Normally you wouldn’t have a chance to be able to do that
to summon a former chairman to a trial. But here, the SEC foolishly chose to file aiding and abetting charges against the CEO @bgarlinghouse. Ironically, it was Clayton who wanted to sue the…— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) August 25, 2023
XRP community volunteer advocate John Deaton agrees. He thinks Hinman needs to testify at all. He points out that Ripple would not normally have a chance to take Clayton to court, after all, he was chairman of the SEC.
But Clayton decided to sue both Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Ripple Chairman Chris Larsen. This is generally unknown as Ripple would not have committed a scam.
Clayton also spoke to Garlinghouse and Ripple CTO David Schwartz and could act as a witness to clarify the situation. After all, Gary Gensler is now the chief policy maker.
SEC files appeal against Ripple
The lawsuit is slowly but surely making its way to judgment. The first court has already ruled that XRP is not an unregistered security on the secondary market.
Still, the SEC believes that’s not enough, although it was partially right. An appeal has been lodged. Ripple’s own chief legal officer believes this phase will only add to Ripple’s victory.