Hope For A Deal Between SEC And Ripple Fades – Pretrial Set to Begin

Hope For A Deal Between SEC And Ripple Fades As Pretrial Set to Begin

Ripple and the SEC have slim chances of striking a deal to settle their dispute out of court. That’s according to a letter addressed by both to a Federal Judge in New York. Back in late December 2020, the SEC filed a case in which Ripple was accused of securities violation with the sale of XRP.

Ripple is said to have sold over $1 billion worth of XRP and using the proceeds to run its own business as well as supporting other blockchain startups. The SEC argues that Ripple’s dealings with XRP were illegal because SEC sees XRP as a security rather than the cryptocurrency that Ripple has long argued it to be. Now, according to the latest developments, it seems that the two opposing sides have failed to reach an agreement and the case will have to go on. 

New Administration

According to the latest letter addressed to Judge Analisa Torres, the previous attempts to strike an out-of-court deal between the parties were made during the Trump’s presidency, an administration that has since been replaced by Biden’s.

As such, the SEC directors have since been changed and there’s a need for a new direction in the discussions. The two parties are currently engaged in another deal to get information from each other during the discovery phase of the trial. The discovery period is set to elapse on August 16, 2021, while the trial is set to officially commence on February 22, 2021.