As Ripple’s Liquidity Hub recently excluded XRP from its list of supported assets, concerns and speculation have arisen within the XRP community. To address these anxieties, Bill Morgan, a pro-XRP attorney, offered some insights into Ripple’s legal strategy against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Understanding the Exclusion of XRP
Bill suggests that XRP’s exclusion from the Liquidity Hub might not be due to a negative assessment of the company’s prospects. Instead, he believes the decision is based on the product’s nature or commercial imperatives.
A few months after the lawsuit with the SEC started, Ripple had initially included XRP in the list of supported assets in the Liquidity Hub document. Bill highlights that with a significant risk of Ripple losing the lawsuit, the company may have excluded XRP to avoid potential securities contravention issues.
This strategy could allow Ripple to push the Liquidity Hub in the US market without causing users to worry. Additionally, a Ripple Liquidity Hub without XRP could serve as a good hedge in case the company loses the case against the SEC and diversify Ripple’s revenue sources.
Ripple’s Response to SEC’s Letter
Ripple’s legal team has filed a letter responding to the SEC’s letter of supplemental authority supporting its motion for summary judgment. In the letter, Michael K. Kellogg, Ripple’s attorney, argues that the SEC’s cited case against Commonwealth Equity Services does not provide grounds to dismiss Ripple’s fair notice defense.
The SEC had referenced the Commonwealth case to justify rejecting Ripple’s fair notice defense and granting the motion for summary judgment. Ripple countered that the Commonwealth case lacked contemporaneous evidence to support the fair notice defense, whereas Ripple’s case has substantial evidence, including SEC records and correspondence with outside parties.
Potential Impact of the Verdict
John E Deaton, another pro-Ripple lawyer representing XRP token owners in the ongoing lawsuit, shared his thoughts on the potential impact of the verdict. In an interview, Deaton stated that if Judge Analisa Torres rules in the SEC’s favor, it could result in numerous enforcement actions in the coming years.
