Attorney John E. Deaton says the only victory the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can take against Ripple is that it sold XRP tokens as a security between 2013 and 2017. Deaton is the attorney representing over 75,000 XRP investors in a case against the SEC.
Waiting for the judge
At the time of writing, the case has reached such a stage that both parties are only waiting for the verdict of the judge. Both the SEC and Ripple have already provided all required documentation. According to Deaton, the SEC wants too much in the lawsuit against Ripple and it is not possible to classify all XRP sales as securities.
At the moment, it only sells XRP intended for ODL transactions. These are transactions that actually have a functional value. These transactions of XRP basically have nothing to do with investing.
The parties that buy XRP from Ripple for this reason do not do so to get richer. Those parties do this to make transactions with the software for their own business operations. For that reason, Deaton expects that only XRP sold to investors between 2013 and 2017 qualifies as a security.
Fine as the best result
As a result of that conclusion, Deaton expects the SEC to fail to ban future sales of XRP. According to Deaton, a fine for Ripple is the best possible outcome for the US regulator. Nevertheless, the lawyer acknowledges that this all depends on whether the judge sees things his way.
For example, the dragging battle between Ripple and the SEC is still ongoing and investors remain in uncertainty. Ultimately, this uncertainty is not good for anyone and it is important that clarity is obtained quickly. In that respect, it is to be hoped that the judge will soon rule and everyone can close this book for themselves.