Könnte Ripple die Klage der SEC gewinnen?

 Die Klage der U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wird schnell zu einer Art Mutter aller Klagen für die Zuständigkeit der SEC. Die US-Regulierungsbehörde kämpft mit allen Mitteln, denn ein Verlust könnte die SEC ihrer zukünftigen Regulierungsbefugnis im Bereich der Kryptowährungen berauben und einen Präzedenzfall für zukünftige Fälle schaffen. Mehr als zwei Jahre sind vergangen, seit die amerikanische Börsenaufsichtsbehörde ein Verfahren eingeleitet hat, in dem Ripple beschuldigt wird, Wertpapiere ohne ordnungsgemäße Genehmigungen zu verkaufen.

The lawsuit filed by the SEC against Ripple has been alleging for two years that Ripple and its executives Brad Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen have offered XRP in the form of unregistered securities. Despite the SEC's size and intimidating power, things appear to be turning in the crypto company's favor. The SEC appears to be trying to buy time and maybe hoping for an upset that could put a point in their favor.

Key Players in the SEC Lawsuit

• Brad Garlinghouse – CEO of fintech company Ripple Labs
• Chris Larsen – Co-founder of Ripple Labs
• John Deaton – Geschäftsführender Partner der Anwaltskanzlei Deaton, die 70.000 XRP-Anleger vertritt
• Hester Peirce – Ex-Kommissarin bei der SEC, von vielen als „Krypto-Mama“ bezeichnet
• Richterin Analisa Torres – Richterin am U.S. District Court für den südlichen Bezirk von New York
• Bill Hinman – Former Director of the SEC's Corporate Finance Division
• Jay Clayton – Ex-Vorsitzender der SEC vom 4. Mai 2017 bis zum 23. Dezember 2020

History of the Ripple lawsuit

The lawsuit against Ripple Labs was filed in December 2020 – the very last day of SEC Chairman Jay Clayton’s term in office. The lawsuit alleges that Ripple and executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen acquired $1.3 billion worth of unregistered securities by offering the digital currency XRP.

Shortly after the SEC accused Ripple of conducting an unregistered securities offering in the United States, Ripple XRP’s price plummeted. Coupled with the price drop, the situation got even worse when cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States began delisting XRP from their exchanges over fears of being investigated by the SEC for facilitating XRP trading.

Verärgerte Investoren

The huge drop in XRP price angered thousands of investors and caught the interest of attorney John Deaton, who now represents over 70,000 XRP investors who are accusing the SEC of harming investors. As mentioned, the case itself is primarily about whether XRP constitutes a security within the meaning of federal securities laws. Many critics of the SEC argue that current securities laws are outdated and the 1946 Howey test is not an adequate framework for digital assets.

Der Howey-Test ist ein Urteil des Obersten Gerichtshofs, das sich mit dem Verkauf der Orangenhaine eines Landwirts befasst. Mit dieser Entscheidung wurde ein Rahmen geschaffen, anhand dessen bestimmt wird, ob ein Vermögenswert als Wertpapier zu betrachten ist oder nicht. Obwohl sich der Fall SEC gegen Ripple um das Wertpapierrecht dreht, ging es in den vergangenen Jahren vor allem um Fragen der Offenlegung und der Privilegien.

One of the key milestones of the case was March 11, 2022, when Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York issued two important decisions: (1) denying the SEC's motion to remove the defendants' "fair notice" defense, and (2) Denial of each defendant's motion to dismiss. The denial of the SEC's motion to remove Ripple's "fair notice" defense provided Ripple with a solid defense to build on. On the other hand, denying Ripple's motion to dismiss the case meant this argument was far from over.

Ripple's defense against notification requirements

Ripple's legal team decided early on to focus on defending against the "fair notice" in this case. The company took the position that it was not sufficiently informed that its conduct was a violation of the law, which constitutes a violation of Ripple's rights. Ripple alleges in the lawsuit that the SEC failed to provide clarity on whether or not XRP qualifies as a security. In addition to defending fair disclosure, Ripple also believes that the SEC unfairly engaged in “regulation through enforcement” by targeting Ripple for the unregistered sales of XRP.

The William Hinman speech

In 2018, the director of the SEC's corporate finance division, William Hinman, gave a digital asset speech in which he outlined the same issue as the lawsuit. Ripple has continually fought to have this speech admitted into evidence, but US regulators have done everything in their power to prevent this speech from seeing the light of day in a courtroom.

Hinman's speech stated that a cryptocurrency that could have been a security when it was first sold could lose that status if it becomes sufficiently decentralized. There was no further guidance from Hinman or the SEC after the 2018 speech, so many investors, including Ripple, took the speech as a framework of sorts. One argument from Ripple is that it controls less than 4% of the XRP ledger validators. It argues that the company was once overruled by a majority of validators despite opposing changing the ledger to make it “sufficiently decentralized.”

Die Rede von Hinman könnte den Rechtsstreit für Ripple beenden und dem Unternehmen ermöglichen, seine Geschäfte in den USA voranzutreiben; die SEC scheint jedoch das Gegenteil zu behaupten. Könnte die SEC in eine Ecke gedrängt worden sein, oder hält sie diese Rede für irrelevant?

Regulatorische Ungereimtheiten und Interessenkonflikte

Many inconsistencies and potential conflicts of interest in the crypto industry have come to light during the Ripple litigation. Crypto investors are notorious for their tribal bias, but since Hinman's speech, many red flags have been raised between Ethereum and the officials surrounding it. Here is a list of strange coincidences that may have led to unfair treatment of Ripple and an unfair advantage for Ethereum .

Bevor er zur SEC kam, arbeitete Bill Hinman für die Anwaltskanzlei Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Die Kanzlei selbst ist Mitglied der Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, die gegründet wurde, um Ethereum als Unternehmenslösung zu vermarkten. Zu diesen prominenten Mitgliedern gehört auch die Anwaltskanzlei Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (Hinman). Jay Clayton ist der ehemalige Kommissar der SEC, der diesen Fall am Tag nach seinem Ausscheiden aus dem Amt fallen ließ. Kurz nachdem er die SEC verlassen hatte, wurde Clayton von One River Digital Asset Management eingestellt. One River ist ein renommierter Krypto-Hedge, der kurz vor der Ripple-Klage große Wetten auf Bitcoin und Ethereum abschloss.

A month after the Ripple lawsuit, SEC director of enforcement Marc Berger left the regulator and joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. During Bill Hinman's tenure with the SEC (2017-2020), Hinman received $15 million in payments from Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett. After Hinman left the SEC, he returned to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. The ex-regulator has also been appointed senior advisor to $2 billion crypto fund Andreessen Horowitz.

Could Ripple Succeed?

In August 2022, 70,000 XRP holders joined attorney John Deaton’s class action lawsuit against the SEC. In a tweet Deaton wrote in August, he describes how he represents XRP holders from all US states and doesn't approve of the SEC's recent actions.

"70,100 as of now. Gary Gensler, over 70K XRP holders of diverse backgrounds from all 50 states, every US territory and 141 countries around the world have come together to fight their unlawful expansion of Howey. You will lose the war," Attorney Deaton tweeted. Since the lawsuit against Ripple was dropped, the SEC has faced not one, but two opponents refusing to throw in the towel.

For now, developments suggest Ripple is on the winning side of the SEC lawsuit, having won several key motions that could be critical to its fair-notice defense. If Ripple succeeds in prevailing in court, the precedent could be crucial for the future regulatory clarity of all digital assets.

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