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XRP Lawyer Files Amicus Brief To Support Ripple’s Other Lawsuit

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Attorney and XRP representative John E Deaton has filed an amicus brief to support Blockchain firm Ripple in a different lawsuit, as per an update shared by another prominent member and lawyer James K Filan

In an exciting turn of events, John Deaton’s entry in Ripple’s California case is slated to keep the limelight on the blockchain firm even more.

For context, a section of XRP investors has filed a class action suit against Ripple and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse. in 2018.

The plaintiffs, in the lawsuit, claimed that the company offered XRP as an unregistered security and demanded compensation for the losses they sustained. They are also asking the court to declare the token as a security.

Moreover, there are three lawsuits in the case of lead plaintiff Bradley Sostack as well, including ones from Zakinov, Oconer, and Greenwald. These lawsuits have since been combined into one.

According to Filan, the most recent submission by Deaton is filed on behalf of all 75,890 XRP holders in the SEC lawsuit who disagree with the plaintiff’s claims.

Furthermore, Deaton will also argue that the majority of investors believe that the token should be regulated rather than classified as a security, contrary to the move of the small number of XRP holders.

“John Deaton will argue that those small number of plaintiffs in Zakinov cannot fairly represent so many who disagree with them, including XRP Holders in places where the asset is not even considered a security,” Filan stated. 

Ripple’s Class Action And The SEC Lawsuit Would Give A Clarity On XRP’s Classification

It should be noted that the proposed class action complaint covers all token sales, including secondary sales and sales done worldwide in nations where XRP has already been found not to be a security.

That said, fintech powerhouse Ripple is also in the final leg of its long-running legal fight with the US regulator the Securities Exchange Commission over the sale of XRP tokens.

Whatever may be the outcome, the case, alongside the SEC lawsuit, is expected to give a clear direction on the classification of the token.

Deaton who is an outspoken supporter of XRP has recently commented on the Ripple and SEC lawsuit.

In it, he stated that he has no doubt about the court ruling in favor of Ripple. “I have zero doubt that the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in favor of Ripple if it goes that far.”

XRP’s Value Might Touch Million In 7 Years, Expert Predicts

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In a stunning claim, Reaper CEO Patrick L. Riley predicted that XRP might be worth a million dollars by 2030. The tweet made reference to Ark’s Cathie Wood’s Bitcoin price prediction in answer to a user’s query about what would be worth $1 million in 2030.

Riley who heads the Austin Texas-based Blockchain Financial firm has caught everyone’s attention with the bold claim. Typically, XRP’s price estimation has reached the $1,000 mark, sometimes five digits, or even as high as $600k.

Interestingly Reaper Financial joined the lawsuit by filing an amicus brief in support of Ripple.

That said, the $1 million forecast might look far-fetched as it is roughly a 4,200% increase from Bitcoin’s current level of $22,901.

This meant that XRP would have to rally nearly 400 million percent from its current price of $0.39 to attain the $1 million mark.

Currently, Ripple is embroiled in a legal battle with the SEC, for the alleged sale of $1.3 billion worth of XRP as an unregistered security offering.

The outcome, many believe would provide much-needed clarity to the crypto industry and in return impact the token’s price.

In a recent tweet, Ripple CTO David Schwartz spoke out about the XRP buyback proposal that was first raised in 2021 and has now resurfaced again but this time with a newer version.

Jimmy Vallee, CEO of Valhil Capital, brought up the contentious concept once more, sparking a new round of frenzied discussion on Twitter.

XRP Buyback Proposal Gets A Thumbs Down Fron Ripple CTO

The theory predicts that XRP will overtake USD as the world’s reserve currency when global government debt soars, all banks migrate to ISO 20022, and the token would be used for international financial transactions.

Governments all across the world would therefore be required to purchase huge quantities of XRP.

Schwartz, though, gives the XRP buyback idea a negative review. On the surface, it appears to be fraud, according to Schwartz. The Ripple CTO admitted he hadn’t given the hypothesis much thought, but he compared it to the scams that occurred in 2012 and 2022.

“I haven’t looked at it very closely. But what I have seen looks an awful lot like a scam to me. If we’ve learned anything from 2012 and 2022 it’s that anyone promising high returns with low risk is almost certainly going to rob you,” Schwartz said.

Here’s how Ripple CTO Congratulated Elon Musk Over His Victory

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The chief technology officer of the massive Ripple Labs, who has recently been highly active on Twitter, not just on cryptocurrency subjects, issued a tweet that appears to be a congratulations to Elon Musk. The jury in the case brought by the SEC against Musk in 2018 as a result of his “420” Tesla tweet found the tech tycoon not guilty. However, the Ripple CTO’s tweet focuses on XRP rather than Tesla. Schwartz cautions that this tweet is a prank just in case.

Elon Musk received a significant victory after a jury dismissed investor charges that he broke the law when he tweeted in 2018 about possibly taking Tesla Inc. private.

After about two hours of discussion, the nine-person jury reached a decision on Friday afternoon, concluding that the investors who had filed the class-action lawsuit had failed to establish their claims against Mr. Musk or the electric vehicle firm he leads.

Mr. Musk, who had earlier attended court to hear the parties’ closing arguments, was not there when the decision was announced. Later, he tweeted his gratitude for the jury’s unanimous verdict and said,

“Thank goodness, the wisdom of the people has prevailed!”

The issue is related to the Tesla CEO’s tweets from more than four years ago that suggested selling the business.

Before this case got to trial, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen had previously determined that certain of Mr. Musk’s claims about possibly taking the business private were untrue and that the CEO had acted recklessly in making them.

Among other things, jurors were required to evaluate whether Mr. Musk’s tweets were relevant to investors and whether the misrepresentations resulted in damages for investors.

The jury’s foreperson, Robin Cadogan, declared that he wasn’t persuaded by the claims that the tweets were relevant. After the verdict was read, it was reported that Cadogan told the attorneys,

“The overall message, it just didn’t land. There was nothing there to give me an ‘aha’ moment.”

Significant Victory To Ripple’s Ally Over SEC

Ripple’s David Schwartz tweeted his own satirical congratulations to Musk “At $420, I’m buying XRP private. funding arranged.”

It’s important to note that the American securities regulator has started to focus on both Elon Musk and Ripple. In December 2020, the government filed a lawsuit against the San Francisco-based fintech company, charging that it and its co-founder and CEO made billions of dollars selling unregistered securities like XRP to institutional investors.

Now that Elon Musk has been found not guilty in the SEC case, the cryptocurrency community anticipates that Ripple will triumph in court against the securities regulator this year as well.

Ripple Withdraw 1B XRP Tokens From Escrow

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Ripple has shifted another massive chunk of XRP tokens to the tune of 1 billion from one of its escrow addresses, data from Whalealert revealed. This was corroborated by an XRP-focused Twitter handle.

According to the data tracking platform, the fintech powerhouse Ripple which is a major backer of the token was found to have undertaken withdrawals from three of its escrow addresses.

In less than 24 hours, 400,000,000, 200,000,000, and 500,000,000 XRP coins totaling $405.3,000,000 in fiat were transferred.

This is nothing new; for more than five years, Ripple has routinely released a sizable sum of XRP on the first day of a new month. After all this time, the firm still has a large number of tokens in escrow. XRP worth hundreds of millions will soon hit the cryptocurrency market.

On the price front, the sixth-ranked token reached an all-time high of $3.84 on January 4 during the first month of these routine planned releases of 2018, which began in January. This record peak hasn’t been attained yet.

That said, XRP’s major backer Ripple’s net sales of XRP accounted for over $226 million worth of XRP in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a recent report published by the firm.

Ripple’s XRP Sales Report Shed New Insights

As reported by TronWeekly, the centralized fintech company builds global payment products and developed the XRP payment system, which the firm describes as decentralized.

However, despite the fact that Ripple uses XRP and its public blockchain, it is important to remember that the two are entirely different entities.

The payment processor reported over 106 million transactions on the decentralized blockchain known as XRP Ledger as well as the development of 228,000 brand-new wallets for distinct users.

In the latest quarter, the well-liked product saw continuous growth after having its “strongest” year, according to Ripple, which added that it has continued to offer XRP only in connection with on-demand liquidity [ODL] transactions.

“Ripple wrapped up 2022 with its strongest year to date focusing on crypto utility and scaling its ODL product,” the firm said in its report.

“As RippleNet continues to grow, despite a tumultuous market, the payment giant experienced the highest amount of demand from both new and existing customers adopting ODL.”

XRP: LBRY’s “Major Win” Sends Ripple Fans Into A Frenzy

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XRP/Ripple lawsuit is heading to a decisive end either through settlement or summary judgment. But a recent ruling of Ripple’s ally LBRY against the SEC has rekindled hope for the crypto community.

In what is touted to be “crypto’s major win”, the US regulator opted for settlement with the decentralized payment network LBRY after admitting publically that the sale of LBRY Credits [LBC] tokens in the secondary market didn’t constitute security. 

Prior to that, on November 7, 2022, during the hearing, the SEC was granted summary judgment in its favor. The verdict, which covered a six-year period, classified each sale of the LBC token as an investment contract without going into specifics about the transactions.

According to multiple reports, the SEC wanted to legitimize the secondary market and bring it under its jurisdiction. The top agency has requested the district court judge in New Hampshire to uphold the broad, vague injunction banning its sale.

XRP defendant and founder of the law firm CryptoLaw, John Deaton filed an amicus brief, seeking clarity for LBC secondary market transactions, as according to him the injunction was “ambiguous and broad”.

For those new, an amicus curia is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case but is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case.

XRP Defendant’s Move In The LBRY Case Invited Praise From Community

In a long thread of tweets, Deaton revealed that the judge explicitly stated that his ruling did not apply to secondary sales of LBC.

He [the judge] also said repeatedly that although he denied the Fair Notice defense, the SEC must admit that this case was one of the first non-ICO digital asset cases filed and it was at a time that clarity wasn’t great.

The settlement in the latest LBRY vs SEC case came during an appeal hearing on Jan. 30. As details of the ruling emerged, the native asset of the LBRY blockchain, LBC skyrocketed by a whopping 140%.

On the other hand, the verdict also sparked hope among the XRP community as blockchain firm Ripple is currently embroiled in a securities lawsuit with the SEC over the sale of XRP tokens.

One pro-XRP Twitter account claimed that the ruling also makes XRP a non-security. Others tweeted the this woulld likely force SEC into settling with Ripple as well.

Ripple’s Total XRP Sales In Q4 Was Over $226M: Details

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Ripple has published its Q4 2022 report where its net sales of XRP via On-Demand Liquidity [ODL] reached $226.31 million.

According to the report, a total of $2.96 billion in XRP was sold by Ripple through On-Demand Liquidity [ODL] corridors, of which $2.74 billion was redeemed back and $2.1 billion was placed back into escrow accounts.

By the end of Q4 2022, XRP spot markets experienced a general downtrend by way of average daily volumes [ADVs] currently at roughly $700 million, down from $1.1 billion in Q1 2022. This is consistent with crypto more broadly, wherein the derivatives market, open interest for BTC was down 15% from Q3 2022 and 30% from Q4 2021 while open interest for ETH was surprisingly more resilient, down less than 10% from Q3 2022 and 25% from Q4 2021.

However, the figure was down by 27% from its previous quarter where the sales stood at $310 million.

Despite the dip, the San Francisco-based firm which pioneered the crypto-enabled cross-border payments known as the ODL expanded its footprint into the French, Swedish, and African markets through new partnerships.

The report also took note of the crypto market turmoil in the Q4 of 2022 where liquidity suffered following the FTX crash.

Companies that develop solutions with practical utility will prevail and endure through the crypto winter as the industry entered a phase of consolidation, the firm noted.

It needs to remind that the fintech powerhouse Ripple has been a buyer of XRP in the secondary market and expects to continue to undertake purchases as ODL continues to gain global momentum. 

Total sales by Ripple, net of purchases, ended the quarter at 0.35% of global XRP volume according to CryptoCompare TopTier [CCTT] volumes.

That said, roughly half a billion XRP was transferred In two transactions.

Ripple Lawsuit Impending Judgement triggers Huge transactions

As reported by prominent crypto tracking service Whale Alert, over the period of the last 24 hours, a staggering amount of XRP was transferred by unknown wallets — over 410 million coins.

The aforementioned cryptocurrency tracking platform discovered two XRP transactions- 253,594,773 and 160,000,000 XRP, each worth $103,264,033 and $65,533,398 respectively, were shoveled.

The latest movement has been attributed to the interviews by Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse where he stated that the court’s decision regarding the long-running case of the SEC against Ripple is to be delivered this year, probably even during the next few months.

Whale Alert: Investors Move Hundreds Of Million XRP in 3 Days Amid Market Surge

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In a stunning display of crypto-currency power, anonymous whales have moved more than hundreds of million XRP coins in the past three days alone. This massive transfer of funds occurred as XRP, and other digital assets have seen a surge in investor interest this year.

Two significant transfers stand out, involving the movement of 254,594,795 and 221,500,000 XRP in separate transactions valued at $107,778,830 and $89,110,472, respectively, on January 22nd.

On January 23rd, Whale Alert reported that 35,000,000 XRP, worth a staggering 14,973,042 USD, were transferred from an unknown wallet to Bitstamp. Just a few hours later, 30,200,000 of the token, valued at 12,867,050 USD, were moved from Bitso to another unknown wallet.

According to the latest data, this pattern of large transfers continued throughout the next several days, with another 30,000,000 XRP, worth 12,192,899 USD, being transferred from Bitso to an unknown wallet. Similarly, 33,000,000 of the token, valued at 13,274,704 USD, were moved from an anonymous wallet to Bitstamp.

Despite Ripple’s ongoing legal battle with SEC, these enormous transfers highlight the growing influence of anonymous, large-scale investors in the crypto-currency.

However, as more people turn to digital assets as a viable investment option, it’s clear that these “whales” actions will significantly impact the overall market.

It remains to be seen whether these massive transfers are a sign of a bullish market or a potential red flag for investors. Regardless, the crypto-currency community is closely watching as these anonymous players make their presence felt in the ever-evolving world of digital assets.

XRP Ledger Amendment Goes Live

An exciting development is set to take place on the XRP Ledger, as a new amendment, known as the “CheckCashMakesTrustLine,” went live a few days ago. 

This amendment, which received a majority of 27 out of 34 votes, will adjust the existing “checks” feature of its Ledger, which has been in use for the past two years. 

The amendment will modify the “CheckCash” transaction to automatically establish a trust line for the issued token when a check is cashed. This eliminates the extra step of setting up a trust line before receiving tokens through a check, making the process more seamless and efficient for users.

It’s worth noting that this amendment will be activated on the XRP Ledger automatically, without the explicit approval of Ripple, as is typical for the XRP Ledger. 

Overall, this amendment is a welcome change for users of the XRP Ledger, and it’s expected to make the process of using checks more efficient and user-friendly.

Related Reading | Grayscale CEO Believes SEC Leashing Crypto Hampers Its Growth

XRP Scam Hit A U.S Sports Channel

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XRP scam has raised its ugly head once again, this time invading the official Twitter account of GOL TV, a U.S based TV sports channel.

Scams masquerading as XRP or Ripple-affiliated entities have become a nuisance on social media offering lucrative investment opportunities that are not backed by legitimate contracts or regulatory oversight.

This time too, the scammers exploited the image of Ripple founder Brad Garlinghouse to trick users into clicking dubious links by posting too good-to-be-true easy investment schemes.

Victims who take the bait find themselves with no recovered capital and no way to recoup their lost funds.

In order to do fraudulent activities that target XRP holders, these bad actors use a variety of strategies, including false accounts, public sentiment manipulation, misrepresenting credentials, multi-level marketing scams, complex phishing networks, and more advanced techniques.

Even if these techniques are not new, unaware victims can still be taken advantage of and suffer the consequences before it is too late.

One needs to exercise restraint and look for reliable sources before investing any money or sending money in order to avoid falling for any more of these scams in the future.

That being said, XRP is in the limelight as the legal tussle with the SEC is heading toward a decisive end, with many believing that its major backer Ripple would emerge as a victory.

Brad Garlinghouse, the chief executive of blockchain firm Ripple, recently expressed optimism about the token and revealed his expectations for the resolution of the legal dispute between Ripple and the SEC in Davos.

Shortly after his statement, multiple sizable transactions of XRP have been detected, including one that might be deemed “big”, data from the top cryptocurrency tracking service Whale Alert revealed.

Massive XRP Transactions After Ripple CEO’s Statement

The aforementioned cryptocurrency tracker discovered four significant transactions, one of which had a staggering 261,094,839 XRP, valued at $102 million.

In accordance with information released by community explorer Bithomp, this enormous lump was transferred between two anonymous wallets without any indication of addresses associated with any crypto exchange.

The rest of the transfers carried 34,700,000 XRP by Bitso crypto exchange.

It is a unicorn based in Mexico and one of Ripple’s major On-Demand Liquidity [ODL] partners, moved 34,700,000 XRP internally as it has often been doing recently, as it is actively spreading the usage of OLD in Latin America.

The other two lumps of the tokens were shoveled by whales from Bittrex exchange to Bitstamp and Bitso.

Ripple Rival Stellar To Shape Digital Asset Regulation As a Member Of CFTC’s Advisory Committee

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The prominent rival of Ripple, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), is set to play a key role in shaping the regulatory landscape of digital assets in the United States. The blockchain organization has been selected as a member of an advisory committee to the U.S. CFTC. 

As per the SDF blog post, recently, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has taken a significant step toward regulating digital asset markets by relaunching its Global Market Advisory Committee (GMAC). 

The inclusion of digital asset markets in the GMAC’s priorities highlights the growing significance of blockchain and crypto in the future of U.S. markets. Among the four crypto-focused organizations appointed to the Committee, Ripple’s rival, Stellar Development Foundation, stands out as the only representative of the blockchain industry. 

According to the statement:

Our inclusion in the Committee marks another important moment for blockchain. It further acknowledges that the future of U.S. markets and our industry are connected. It also underscores the CFTC’s commitment to building a diverse consortium representing more than just traditional finance players.

SDF highlighted that being part of the Committee is a chance for them to be involved in discussions that shape future regulations and guidelines. They believe that well-defined regulations and policies can lead to growth in their sector, and it is important for them to be present when decisions are made by policymakers and regulators to achieve this.

Ripple Rival’s Stellar Plans For Unique Perspective Of Layer 1 Protocols 

According to the blog post, as the only blockchain represented on the Committee, SDF aims to bring a unique perspective on Layer 1 protocols and their role as the underlying infrastructure supporting promising applications of blockchain technology. 

Additionally, as part of the Committee, SDF will also focus on the use of stablecoins in digital asset markets and real-world scenarios, including utilizing stablecoins for humanitarian aid through Stellar Aid Assist. 

SDF is also eager to collaborate with traditional finance players on the Committee, as they believe that blockchain’s future lies in working with and building upon existing systems rather than replacing them. 

Additionally, it requires interoperability between blockchain and traditional finance to ensure seamless integration and competitiveness in U.S. markets. The blog post stated that the Committee serves as a valuable platform for conventional finance and blockchain to explore potential partnerships and opportunities for integration.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining In New Hampshire: Chris Sununu Weighs In With Final Report

XRP: Australia Embraces Ripple With Open Arms; $1 Target Achievable?

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Recently, one of the trending topics on Twitter has been Ripple (XRP). At the time of publication, there were numerous causes for the same. In the company’s case against the SEC, a recent development involving MoneyGram was first made public.

XRP already dominates trade volumes at some of Australia’s main digital exchanges, according to the Australian Financial Review news site, as Ripple-based international remittances become a key use case.

Over the last 24 hours, XRP accounted for 82% of volumes on the Independent Reserve exchange and 62% of volumes on Melbourne-based BTC Markets. XRP accounted for a bigger portion of BTC Markets’ trading volumes because BTC Markets is a Ripple on-demand liquidity (ODL) partner for Australia, according to Caroline Bowler, chief executive of BTC Markets.

Bowler further said,

“Effectively, ODL helps companies manage cross-border payments without requiring correspondent banking and pre-funding costs, It uses XRP to help facilitate part of this process, hence the trading volumes on our platforms. It is a larger percentage on our platform, as crypto market volumes overall are still relatively flat across the industry.”

XRP transactions represented $10.2 million in 24-hour volume on Sydney-based Independent Reserve, far more than all other cryptocurrencies combined. Market makers and foreign remitters on the ODL network were among the clients trading XRP, according to the exchange’s CEO Adrian Prezelozny. Many believe that the legal conflict between Ripple and the SEC, which is now in progress, will have a significant impact on the cryptocurrency markets.

Depending on how the case turns out, it may be possible to determine if XRP and perhaps all other cryptocurrencies should be under the control of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

XRP: Bulls Target $1; Is It Possible?

After the CPI report indicated that inflation had decreased from 7.1% to 6.5% last week, the cryptocurrency markets began to rise. Ethereum reached $1,595 levels and Bitcoin surpassed $21,000 as the top altcoins surged double digits.

The SEC v. Ripple case is impeding the targeted target, even though the long-term objective is above $1. After John Deaton, an attorney for the Amicus Curiae gained attention on Tuesday by discussing the importance of the Amicus brief, the lawsuit once again became the focus of attention this week. He claimed that the SEC is actively pursuing the designation of XRP as a security. He further added,

“The SEC literally claims XRP itself was, is, and always will be a security. The scope of the SEC’s Howey argument has become so stretched that it is truly indefinable, in space or in time.”

In conclusion, the token’s market growth is being hampered by the lawsuit developments and updates. When the legal dispute is resolved, Ripple’s native token may eventually surpass the $1 threshold. The token could continue to be in a consolidated state until then.