Federal judge suggests Q2 2024 trial for SEC case against Ripple execs
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The judge overseeing the civil case of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple Labs plans to schedule a jury trial starting in the second quarter of 2024.
In an Aug. 9 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Analisa Torres said the court would be moving forward with plans for a jury trial for Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. The judge gave a deadline of Aug. 23 for prosecutors and defense lawyers to submit blackout dates for the trial but aimed for a start date between April 1 and June 30, 2024.
Torres was responsible for ruling that the XRP (XRP) coin was not a security in regard to programmatic sales on digital asset exchanges. The court decision was not a final determination in the SEC v. Ripple case, and the blockchain firm, Garlinghouse and Larsen may still be found liable for other violations.
Coinbase, facing its own lawsuit from the SEC, cited Torres’ decision on XRP in a motion to dismiss on Aug. 4. A different judge overseeing the regulator’s case against Terraform Labs largely rejected the Ripple case ruling in a separate motion to dismiss on July 31.
Related: SEC hints at potential appeal to XRP ruling from Ripple Labs lawsuit
The SEC filed its lawsuit against Ripple and the two executives in December 2020, prompting many exchanges to delist XRP — likely to avoid similar legal entanglements. However, in the wake of Torres’ ruling on July 13, many firms have already relisted the token or said they were exploring the possibility of doing so.
A number of high-profile figures in the crypto space face civil or criminal charges in the United States. The SEC is currently pursuing civil cases against Coinbase and Binance, and both former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and former Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky were arrested on criminal charges for allegedly defrauding customers.
