Skip to main content

Court Rejects Ripple’s Bid to Dismiss Class Action Lawsuit Filed by XRP Investors

Court Rejects Ripple’s Bid to Dismiss Class Action Lawsuit Filed by XRP Investors

A court case that has the future of XRP at stake continues after Ripple’s motion to dismiss it was rejected by a court in California. The plaintiffs claim that the blockchain company sold the coin as an unregistered security and demand compensation. Ripple tried to avoid the case with its defense team insisting the lawsuit had been filed too late.

Also read: XRP Plummets 56% in One Candle, Bitmex Traders Outraged Over Flash Crash

Ripple’s Attempt to Dismiss XRP Court Case Fails

The consolidated class action lawsuit was filed last year by a group of investors who accused Ripple, its XRP II subsidiary, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse of misleading them about the nature of XRP. In early December, the defendants asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to dismiss the case. A ruling on their request was expected last month but on Jan. 15 the court took the motion under submission and postponed its decision, as news.Bitcoin.com reported.

Court Rejects Ripple’s Bid to Dismiss Class Action Lawsuit Filed by XRP Investors

Although Ripple has maintained XRP is not a security, its legal representatives tried to obtain the dismissal on grounds that were different from the substance. They claimed the statute of repose had expired as the case was not filed within three years of the coin’s initial offering, and that the lead plaintiff, Bradley Sostack, bought XRP from a third party in January 2018.

Despite dismissing some of the defendants’ claims on the state level, during a hearing on Feb. 25 District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that the securities claim was not invalidated under federal law, allowing the lawsuit to proceed. “Here, based on plaintiff’s complaint and the judicially noticeable facts proffered, the court cannot conclude that defendants’ first bona fide public offer to sell XRP occurred before August 5, 2016,” the court stated.

Fate of XRP Undecided Yet

Investments in XRP were made even before 2015 but the public did not learn that Ripple was selling the cryptocurrency, currently the third largest by market capitalization, until August 2016. The court further notes that while the defendants did acknowledge various 2013 offers and sales in their May 2015 settlement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, “the sales activity identified in that settlement does not show that defendants targeted the general public when offering to sell XRP.”

Court Rejects Ripple’s Bid to Dismiss Class Action Lawsuit Filed by XRP Investors

The outcome of the class action lawsuit against Ripple is likely to determine the fate of XRP. If the court recognizes the cryptocurrency as an unregistered security, its value could tumble sharply as it is delisted from regulated exchanges. But even a positive development for Ripple and its management in this case may not bring an end to the problems with the XRP coin.

Federal regulators are yet to determine their stance on XRP’s status. The crypto can either be treated as a security and fall under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which can file its own lawsuit for violation of federal securities laws, or as a commodity, in which case it will be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

What are your expectations about the future of Ripple’s XRP? Share your thoughts on the court case in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Do you want to keep an eye on moving cryptocurrency prices? Visit our Bitcoin Markets tool to get real-time price updates, and head over to our Blockchain Explorer tool to view all previous BCH and BTC transactions.

The post Court Rejects Ripple’s Bid to Dismiss Class Action Lawsuit Filed by XRP Investors appeared first on Bitcoin News.



from Bitcoin News https://ift.tt/384l2Vh
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deep Web Roundup: Dream Adds Monero and Bitcoin Tumbler “Chip Mixer” Launches

The darknet has been quiet of late, which is the way it’s meant to be. No news means no mega busts, honeypots, or mass market shutdowns. Even when it’s out of the spotlight though, the deep web is quietly making news, whether trialling the latest privacy coins or the newest coin mixers that promise to restore a little of the privacy that’s being stripped away from bitcoin users on a daily basis. Also read: U.S. Agency ICE Conducts Investigations That Exploit Blockchain Activity The Battle for Privacy Heats Up Privacy is all relative, but of late there’s been relatively little privacy to be enjoyed by bitcoin users. Blockchain monitoring software is becoming more sophisticated and more common, with U.S. law enforcement agencies using it to profile and hunt down deep web users. Chip Mixer is a relatively new bitcoin tumbler that’s designed to restore some of that privacy. Available on both the clearnet and darknet, the service uses a variety of techniques to obfuscate blockchain m...
10 comments
Read more

International Crypto Exchange Luno Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading

Luno exchange has added bitcoin cash trading to the platform following feedback from its client base. BCH is now only the third cryptocurrency available for trading on the exchange, in addition to BTC and ETH , but more options could be on the way once Luno determines that they are credible enough. Also Read: Bitflyer Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading Across Europe and the US Luno Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading Luno, the London-headquartered company formerly known as Bitx, recently announced that bitcoin cash was made available on its cryptocurrency exchange. Starting from Monday, September 23, customers at Luno are now able to store, buy and sell BCH on the platform. The reason given for adding BCH to the exchange is feedback from users in developing markets that convinced Luno to expand their offering from previously just BTC and ETH . Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of Luno, said , “We are in a new and exciting financial era. Developing economies are leading the large-scale adoption and appli...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ombudsman Receives Complaints About Crypto Investments in Spain

The Spanish ombudsman has been receiving complaints about cryptocurrency and how some Spanish citizens investing in these vehicles have lost everything. In his annual report, Angel Gabilondo recognized the rise of cryptocurrencies as a new problem due to the little or no regulation crypto sees in the country. In the same way, the EU has also warned about these assets recently. Spanish Ombudsman Gives His Take on Crypto Angel Gabilondo, the Spanish ombudsman, has given his take regarding cryptocurrencies and the effects they have on citizens investing in some of these projects. Gabilondo said in his yearly report that cryptocurrencies have become “a new problem” during the year examined, with many people having lost all of their funds invested. The report states : Cryptocurrency exchange companies or platforms are not regulated in the legal system, are not subject to any public supervision system, nor do they benefit from deposit guarantee systems. The affected users that sought...
Post a Comment
Read more