The SEC case against Ripple for selling XRP as an unlicensed security will begin with a pretrial in February 2021.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York set February 22, 2021 as the date for the pretrial portion of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple Labs and its principals.
The SEC is suing Ripple and has XRP in its sights
According to a court document filed on Tuesday, the attorney representing all parties in the case will hold a pre-trial conference call. As part of the preparations for the preliminary hearing, the parties in the case will submit a joint letter one week prior to the pretrial date in which the case will be heard:
„(1) a brief description of the case, including the factual and legal basis of the claim(s) and defense(s), (2) any motions contemplated, and (3) the prospect of a settlement.
Do not expect Coin Center to defend XRP before the Securities and Exchange Commission
In early December, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple, accusing the blockchain company of selling XRP tokens in violation of the securities law. The legal status of XRP as a commodity or security has long been a subject of debate within and outside of crypto space.
Several crypto-currency exchanges reacted to the demand by suspending XRP trading or removing the token from their platforms altogether. Investment firms such as Bitwise Asset Management also liquidated their XRP holdings as a result of SEC enforcement action.
The price of XRP falls by 24% in 24 hours as exchanges begin to delist it
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Ripple’s partner, MoneyGram, distanced itself from the company, stating that it does not use RippleNet. The price of XRP has also dropped significantly, by more than 65% in December.
In a statement issued earlier in the week, Ripple accused the SEC of harming XRP token holders. Ripple also stated its intention to respond to the Commission’s complaints against the company.