Lawyer John E. Deaton Rebuts the SEC-Ripple Settlement Rumours

With the summary judgement yet to be issued by the court in the SEC-Ripple lawsuit, rumours continue to spread about the potential direction the litigation could take.

Settlement Rumours and Deaton’s Rebuttal

A Twitter account named Blockchain Daily recently tweeted that Ripple and the SEC is reportedly holding a meeting on May 8th. The tweet was clearly aimed at purporting a possible settlement between Ripple and the SEC.

Lawyer and amicus curiae in the SEC-Ripple lawsuit, John E. Deaton was quick to respond to the rumour. In his rebuttal Deaton stated that the settlement is not going to happen the way purported by the Blockchain Daily. Rather, Deaton explained, the settlement is only possible once the Judge Analisa Torres issues the summary judgement in which Ripple emerges as a clear victor.

This is not how a settlement happens. First, I believe the only time a settlement occurs in this case is AFTER a ruling by Judge Torres and that happens only if Ripple gets a big victory so Gensler could save face and get a political win via settlement. Sorry not going to happen. https://t.co/k1eEIMtK8f

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) May 1, 2023

Deaton opined, only then the SEC Chairman Gary Gensler would move to settle with Ripple as the settlement in that situation would give Gensler the opportunity to claim the political victory. Deaton added that ‘because of claims of market manipulation and insider trading, they wouldn’t set a meeting and run the risk of a leak and influence the market.’ The lawyer suggested that if settlement is to take place, the parties will just meet to settle the issues, if possible, and report the settlement to the court.

Deaton reiterated that if the SEC and Ripple lawyers would ever wish to have a meeting they would do so as they desire as he denied the logic of them first picking a date a week from now only to leak it out. Deaton considered the rumour a stunt to artificially pump XRP’s price upwards.

If it Wins, Why Would Ripple Settle with the SEC?

Deaton also addressed the query concerning the potential settlement between the parties in case the Ripple wins the lawsuit. Deaton responded that if Ripple wins the settlement would depend on the nature of the decision and its repercussions; if the Coinbase and Kraken would wait for an appeal or they will realist XRP right away.

Quite a few people ask why would Ripple settle if they won. First, I didn’t say Ripple would agree to the same terms of a settlement they would’ve agreed to 2 years ago. It all depends on the ruling itself. Does Coinbase and Kraken immediately relist or wait for an appeal? https://t.co/sCx24acPR4

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) May 2, 2023

Deaton stated that Ripple will likely strike the settlement with the SEC if the regulator agrees that all the future XRP sales would not be considered securities and that they will not file the appeal.