Ripple vs SEC: No Final Pretrial Conference, Charges Against Executives Dismissed

Key Takeaways

• The SEC dismissed its charges against Ripple executives, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen in October 2023.
• The case will not proceed to a final pretrial conference despite its calendar listing.
• Ripple is set to respond to the SEC’s penalty requests by April 22 in the upcoming deadline.

The South District Court of New York listed the final pretrial conference for SEC Vs Ripple for April 16. The listing created confusion in the case timelines as charges against top Ripple executives were dismissed in October 2023. While that eliminates the need for a final pretrial conference, what is the next deadline to focus on?

Ripple Vs SEC: No Final Pretrial Conference

Ripple has been embroiled in a lawsuit with the SEC since December 2020. However, It also accused Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chairman Chris Larsen, of conducting an unauthorized securities offering through XRP tokens. While the case against Ripple continues, the SEC dismissed its case against the executives in October 2023.

Generally, a final pretrial conference sets the stage for a trial. It allows both parties to present their evidence and arguments. However, with the dismissal of charges against the executives, this phase is no longer necessary.

The calendar listing with the court created confusion within the community. However, experts called it a mere error.

The dismissed case was listed under Judge Sarah Netburn for April 16. But the matter has been resolved and dropped. Several crypto influencers misread  the undeleted schedule as a potential settlement talk.

However, despite the partial de-escalation, the core lawsuit centered on whether XRP tokens are classified as securities under US law and the SEC continues.

Legal Proceedings Weigh on XRP

Ripple must still contend with the SEC’s requests for penalties in April. Ripple’s opposition brief where the company will file its counterarguments is on April 22, 2024. SEC’s reply brief deadline is May 6, 2024, to respond to Ripple’s submissions.

The schedule under remedies briefing will determine the penalties or other legal remedies that might be imposed on Ripple Labs.

Meanwhile, the legal proceeding schedule is weighing on the XRP price. As per Coingecko , XRP has lost 20% value in 7 days. The returns on the daily and monthly charts are also negative at press time.

The token trading volume has also taken at least a 12 % hit in the 30-day period.

Remedies Deadline in Focus

The dismissal of charges against Ripple’s executives was a partial de-escalation in 2023. The case wasn’t deleted from the court schedule with the pretrial booked for April 16. However, since the charges against top Ripple executives were dropped by the SEC, there is no case.

However, the broader lawsuit against Ripple continues with the remedies deadline on April 22 and May 6.

As Ripple prepares its defense against the SEC’s penalty proposals, it is weighing on XRP’s price.

About the Author

Shraddha Sharma

Shraddha has around five years of experience as a financial journalist, focusing largely on the Asian markets. Starting her career in Mumbai, India, as a news trainee and producer, she quickly found her niche in crypto. She is keen on learning how emerging technologies affect the broader markets and enjoys explaining complex financial ideas in a way that's easy to understand.

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