SEC must prove two things to prevail in summary judgment
According to Jeremy Hogan, the likelihood of Ripple prevailing over the SEC in a summary decision is increasing. Hogan added that the only evidence from the SEC is statements made by Ripple and certain buyers about Ripple’s involvement in the price of XRP.
Hogan outlines the rationale for his deduction and why the SEC is unable to satisfy at least one component of the Howey test in a series of tweets. According to him, the SEC must prove two things to prevail in summary judgment: first is to prove every element by the greater weight of the evidence, and second is to prove that there is no genuine dispute of material fact.
Although these are legal nuances, Hogan describes them clearly. He claims that the SEC’s primary evidence on the “expectation of profits based on the efforts of others” of the Howe test comes from comments made by Ripple and several buyers regarding Ripple’s effect on the price of XRP. It has also dropped its expert witness on the issue.
Ripple challenges the SEC based on this premise with its expert witness, who links XRP’s price movement to market factors, particularly since 2018. Additionally, Ripple filed over 3,000 affidavits from XRP holders attesting that they were not looking to Ripple to raise the price of the cryptocurrency.
Hogan concluded that Ripple provided direct, convincing evidence that a reasonable XRP buyer was not relying on Ripple to drive up the price. Therefore, in their own view, the SEC has utterly failed to meet its burden of presenting “overweight of evidence.”
Summary judgment motions
In September, the SEC and Ripple both filed motions for summary judgment, asking District Judge Analisa Torres to make a ruling based on the arguments filed in accompanying documents. Also, both parties have filed their opposition briefs to each other’s motion for summary judgment.
Responses to the summary judgment proposals are now expected by November 30, by which time all briefings will be completed and a final decision from Judge Torres is expected.
