Ripple’s ongoing lawsuit against the SEC has kept the crypto community on edge as the verdict is likely to seal XRP’s fate.
To recall, the U.S.-based regulator slapped charges against Ripple and its two top officials towards the end of 2020, accusing them of selling the XRP token as an unregistered security.
As the two-year-old case heads to its final leg, different experts throughout time have come forward to give their take on the same.
Recently, former lawyer and co-founder of Evernode, the L2 smart contract platform on XRPL, Scott Chamberlain has outlined five possible scenarios, mostly focusing on the payment firm-backed token XRP.
According to Chamberlain, Ripple’s two top execs Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse of Ripple will likely receive a summary judgment in their favor, as he believes the regulator lacks hard-hitting evidence that the blockchain firm marketed unregistered security intentionally or carelessly.
A second possibility is a summary judgment in support of Ripple with regard to international sales. Chamberlain argued that the court lacks jurisdiction over the firm’s sales of XRP on foreign exchanges.
“A wholly new precedent would be set to deem those domestic transactions finalized in the US”, he added.
Next, the lawyer claimed that no prior case has supported the notion that the digital asset itself is a security, hence the claim that XRP is a security would be dismissed by summary judgment.
This allegation, according to him, was a plot by the SEC to get out of having to prove every sale and to get around the issue of international sales.
The fourth possible outcome, as per Chamberlain, is whether any of Ripple’s XRP sales in the US comprised an unregistered investment contract.
Former Lawyer Believes SEC Has Underestimated Ripple’s Overseas Sales
In the final assessment, the expert believes that the SEC underestimated the fact that the majority of Ripple’s sales took place on foreign exchanges through algorithmic trading.
“Once overseas and secondary market sales are excluded, there’s insufficient meat left on the bone,” he added.
Although Chamberlain’s analysis has given supporters more reason for optimism, only time will tell how things turn out.
Recently in an interview with Bloomberg, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated that the long-drawn battle would finally have a resolution by this year.
He also stressed the importance of setting things right, given that the lawsuit’s outcome would be pivotal for the whole industry and have a far-reaching impact.