Pro-crypto lawyer John Deaton took to Twitter to weigh in on the ongoing legal battle between Grayscale and the SEC over the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Deaton also commented on the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs, suggesting that it could also make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Deaton stated that he believes the odds of a Grayscale win before the D.C. Circuit are 50/50 and a win before the Supreme Court are 75-80%. He argued that under the law, the SEC’s denial of a spot BTC ETF while allowing both a futures ETF and a short ETF is arbitrary and capricious.
He also commented on the SEC’s case against Ripple Labs, stating that he has “zero doubt that the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in favor of Ripple if it goes that far.” Deaton argues that the SEC went too far in its allegations against Ripple and that the case rests on “demonstrably false premises.”
Dave Weisberger, CEO of CoinRoutes, also weighed in on the discussion, stating that the SEC’s case is based on false premises and ignores precedent set by approved gold spot ETFs, while the Bitcoin spot is more transparent and liquid. He also argued that the availability of GBTC for purchase in brokerage accounts harms investors directly, against the SEC’s mandate.
Latest Update On Ripple Lawsuit
In a recent development in the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC, an investment banker declarant, who is an employee of an SEC-regulated entity, has filed a response to Ripple’s opposition to an earlier motion to keep his name, position, and employer private.
The response, which was submitted by the investment banker’s legal representatives, points out that the declarant submitted his statement to the SEC “voluntarily,” but in reality, the options presented to him were to provide a declaration or to testify.
The investment banker’s firm is an SEC-registered broker-dealer, and, as such, the declarant had no choice but to comply with the request from the SEC. The document, which was attached to James K. Filan’s tweet, stated:
Where a witness’s only options are to provide a declaration or to testify, there is no truly voluntary choice to be made.
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