XRP holders – or at least six of them – will get their day in court in the long-running saga that pitted senior Ripple executives against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But the regulator is refusing to back down in its crackdown on crypto companies and has served Circle Financial, the issuer of the second most popular stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), with a subpoena.
In the Ripple SEC case, which revolves around the claim that executives knowingly sold an unregistered security, XRP holders have been trying to insert themselves into the legal battle for some time. The regulator would rather get it out alone with the Ripple executives. In an official ruling, Manhattan District Court Judge Analisa Torres wrote that the court should hear the “meaningful perspective” of XRP holders.
Torres’ claim came despite SEC claims in an official attempt to stop the intervention that the XRP token holders “cannot offer a unique perspective or information that is not already available to the court, either in the public record or through the presentation of the [executives’] lawyer.”
The lawyer representing a group of XRP owners was in a celebratory mood on Twitter.
Although Torres stated that the holders could not “intervene as a class” because it would cause delays, she added [citing precedent] that “they will provide a meaningful perspective to the court and will help make [the] full and comprehensive presentation of difficult issues so that the court can make an appropriate decision.” It ruled that the holders “may assist the court by explaining legal issues relevant to the case in the form approved by the court in advance.”
However, although the judge wrote that Amicus status would allow XRP holders to “assist with ‘significant legal issues,'” she expressed the view that the court would “recognize the very partisan position of the [group].'”
At 07:48 UTC, XRP, ranked 7th in terms of market capitalization, is trading at USD 1.05 And has risen nearly 2% in one day and 14% in one week.
Meanwhile, the SEC also seems to be looking intrepidly for another major American crypto player, Circle.
In a filing with the SEC, Circle disclosed that as early as July of this year it had received an “investigative subpoena” from the regulator’s enforcement division requesting it to provide “documents and information.”
The company wrote:
“In July 2021, we received an investigative subpoena from the SEC Enforcement Division requesting documents and information regarding certain of our holdings, client programs and operations. We are cooperating fully with your investigation.”
Some media have pointed out that Circle made a similar admission in a document back in August, although this section seems to have been overlooked by most at the time.