SEC files no objection to Ripple request to seal non-party identities in XRP lawsuit

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to object to Ripple Lab’s request to seal identities of certain non-parties and Ripple employees in the Daubert motions, as its lawsuit against Ripple drags on.

Fast facts

• The SEC said on Friday in a letter to Judge Analisa Torres that it does not object to Ripple’s motion filed on Aug. 19 seeking to seal identities of non-parties, certain Ripple employees and personal financial information of an employee.
• However, the SEC clarified that in doing so, “the SEC does not concede that the above categories of information should properly be sealed for summary judgment briefing, and reserves its rights to oppose similar sealing requests for summary judgment.”
• A Daubert motion is a type of motion that seeks to exclude the testimony of an expert witness.
• On Thursday, the judge granted the SEC’s request to file a reply of up to 90 pages long to its motion that seeks to exclude the testimony of Ripple Labs’ witnesses.
• In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple alleging that its sale of XRP — the native coin of the XRP Ledger created by Ripple Labs — was an unregistered securities offering worth over US$1.38 billion. The SEC also named Ripple’s executive chairman Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse as co-defendants for allegedly aiding and abetting Ripple’s violations.
• Earlier this month, the SEC also submitted a reply brief in support of its objections to orders that asked the SEC to disclose drafts of a 2018 speech made by former SEC director William Hinman, which has been a major point of argument between the two as Ripple seeks to bolster its fair notice defense.
• XRP traded down 3.3% in the past 24 hours at US$0.3236 at 12 p.m. Hong Kong time, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

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