If Binance accepts the request of Garlington, there would be new evidence in the legal battle between the XRP issuing company and the SEC. The preliminary testing phase to verify the version of Ripple Labs will take place on October 15th.
The legal battle between Ripple Labs, the company that issues the cryptocurrency XRP, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not seem to stop. It has even involved Binance, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
According to US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, Ripple Labs can access Binance Holdings Limited documents. It is a subsidiary of the renowned Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange based in the Cayman Islands.
In early August, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs, requested the Southern District of New York for documents from the exchange. He said they are relevant to the case, but he cannot obtain them through other means.
Ripple Made the XRP Transactions outside the United States
The legal team of Garlinghouse believes that the documents from Binance could indicate where the executive conducted the XRP transactions. They stated that he made them on a platform located outside of the United States. Therefore, it would escape the jurisdiction of the SEC.
If Garlinghouse verifies his version of events, he and his company could have a remarkable legal victory. The preliminary testing phase of the case will take place on October 15th.
Ripple Labs only has to wait for justice to issue a letter on behalf of Brad Garlinghouse. If Binance accepts the request, there would be new evidence in the legal struggle between the XRP issuing company and the SEC. That conflict between the firm and the government agency began in December 2020.
How the SEC Lawsuit against Ripple Labs Started
The SEC accuses Ripple Labs of selling XRP to finance the company’s activities, considering that asset as an unregistered security. However, Ripple maintains that it is a virtual currency, according to reports from December 2020.
The agency stated that Ripple Labs raised at least USD 1.3 billion through the sale of XRP since 2013. They claimed that the firm used the asset to pay consideration such as labor services. Besides, they accused Garlinghouse and another executive of making unrecorded personal sales of the alleged security for USD 600 million.
Ripple Labs dismissed the charges and said that it was an attack on the cryptocurrency industry in the United States. They argued there was a dangerous lack of regulatory clarity and that the lawsuit did not concern Ripple alone.
Ripple’s Last Victory Following the Lawsuit by the SEC
Since December, the legal battle between the company and the SEC has had several ups and downs. In one of the latest confrontations, the SEC allowed Ripple Labs to question William H. Hinman in court. The latter was director of the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance from 2017 to 2020.
Hinman seems to have said that Bitcoin and Ether are not securities but that XRP is. If Ripple convinced the jury, he would prove that XRP is a cryptocurrency and not a security.
By Alexander Salazar
