The US SEC has accused Ripple Labs of seeking to prolong the ongoing legal tussle in order to continue selling XRP to public markets.
As reported by The Crypto Basic, the SEC has filed its memorandum reply brief supporting its motion to certify an interlocutory appeal in the Ripple case.
In the filing, the SEC claims that while it has an institutional interest in efficiently resolving the case, Ripple has a different goal.
Furthermore, the securities regulator accused Ripple of seeking to prolong the legal tussle in order to continue selling XRP to the public markets.
“They [defendants] seek to prolong this litigation (as they have already promised to do), presumably so that they may continue selling XRP into public markets (as they tacitly admit),” the SEC noted.
SEC’s Ironical Claim
Interestingly, it is ironic that the SEC is accusing Ripple of seeking to prolong the lawsuit when it has been the one using delay tactics throughout the litigation.
As reported earlier, Ripple highlighted the SEC’s delay tactics during the legal tussle for the drafts of William Hinman’s controversial speech.
It is common knowledge that the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit still has unresolved issues, especially the commission’s case against Ripple execs- Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen.
However, in its motion to certify an interlocutory appeal, the SEC asked the court to stay further proceedings of the lawsuit until the resolution of the appeal.
Notably, the court has already scheduled the case for a trial by Q2 2024. Therefore, if the court grants the SEC’s request for a stay of further proceedings, the trial will be postponed until the interlocutory appeal is completely resolved. The move would further delay the resolution of the lawsuit.
XRP Community Reacts
Meanwhile, XRP and Ripple enthusiasts have taken to the X platform to react to the SEC’s accusation against Ripple.
In a tweet yesterday, Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) developer Neil Hartner seemed astonished by the SEC’s claim.
Did the SEC just say that Ripple is the one who wants to prolong litigation? Wow. pic.twitter.com/kbvG3kCxzP
— Neil Hartner (@illneil) September 8, 2023
Furthermore, an XRP enthusiast described the SEC’s argument as “classical.”
Classic SEC argument.
— nietzbux (@nietzbux) September 8, 2023