US judge denies XRP hodlers attempt to join court action in support of Ripple

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A judge has ruled that individuals holding XRP tokens will not be able to participate in a long-running court case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple.

In the latest developments in the ongoing legal action against Ripple, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said token holders would not be permitted to join the case as defendants on ‘friends of the court’ terms, which would have enabled them to bring support that Ripple’s token does not contravene the U.S. securities laws.

Dismissing the petition for XRP holders to join, Judge Torres said such a move would “compel the SEC to take an enforcement action against them.” She also suggested the move could add further delays to the case, despite Ripple and token holders urging a quick resolution to the proceedings.

Instead, Judge Torres said the parties could participate as “amicus curiae,” allowing them to advise and provide additional information relevant to the proceedings in court.

“The court concludes that amici status strikes a proper balance between permitting movants to assert their interest in this case and allowing the parties to remain in control of the litigation,” the judge said.

In their motion filed earlier this year, XRP holders said the case could have a significant impact on the value of their investments, calling into question the SEC’s claims that it was acting to protect the interests of investors.

“Claiming to protect investors, the SEC is seeking $1.3 billion in alleged ill-gotten gains from the named defendants, but by alleging that today’s XRP may constitute unregistered securities, the SEC caused over $15 billion in losses for XRP holders.”

The development has been cautiously welcomed by representatives of the XRP token holders, who can now make their representations to the court in support of Ripple’s position that its token is not a security.

Follow CoinGeek’s Crypto Crime Cartel series, which delves into the stream of groups—a from BitMEX to Binance, Bitcoin.com, Blockstream, ShapeShift, Coinbase, Ripple and
Ethereum—who have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for naïve (and even experienced) players in the market.