In SEC v. Ripple case, judge denies XRP retail investors a say

An attempt by XRP token holders to serve as third-party defendants in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) case against Ripple may have come to an end.

Federal Judge Analisa Torres denied a motion filed over the weekend on behalf of more than 6,000 XRP holders, court documents show. The motion to intervene claimed that the interests of XRP token holders, in this case the “XRP Army,” were not adequately represented in the lawsuit against Ripple and its executives.

Torres denied the motion “without prejudice,” meaning attorneys representing XRP investors can reapply in the future. The filing includes a pre-motion letter to the SEC, giving them a chance to respond.

Under court rules, the SEC has three business days to respond to any such motion, but it has requested an extension until March 22. It is unclear whether this extension, if granted, would also allow any legal team representing XRP token holders to file another motion to intervene. If the litigation deadline is not extended, XRP investors may not have a say in the SEC's case against Ripple.

John Deaton of the Deaton Law Firm first filed a motion to intervene on Sunday, and later claimed on the firm's website that XRP holders suffered $15 billion in losses after the SEC announced its lawsuit against Ripple. The price of XRP fell more than 60% from $0.58 to $0.21 in December last year, but has risen to $0.48 at the time of publication.

Last year, the SEC charged Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen with providing an "unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering" for their XRP sales. Many cryptocurrency exchanges have announced that they will suspend trading in XRP or delist XRP. In addition, global money transfer service MoneyGram also terminated its long-term partnership with Ripple. (Cointelegraph)