Legal expert predicts verdict as final date nears

With both parties in the Ripple and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) case making final submissions, the crypto community is awaiting the final ruling on the matter. Based on the deliberations during the hearing, the matter has opened room for speculation regarding the possible outcome of the case.

In this line, defense lawyer and a popular commentator on the case John Deaton, has shared his prediction on the outcome. In a tweet on January 13, the attorney pointed out that the case will likely end in a settlement after the presiding judge makes the final ruling. 

However, the prediction was not received well by the majority of the XRP community regarding the aspect of the judge making a ruling before a settlement is reached. He clarified that the outcome is possible, especially if the parties want to avoid further appeals. 

“Some people are confused about my prediction that the Ripple case doesn’t settle until AFTER Judge Torres renders a decision. A settlement could occur after which would eliminate any potential jury trial and also eliminate any potential appeal,” he said.

In a previous tweet, Deaton had commissioned a poll where most of the XRP community opted for a settlement. This comes even as initial predictions sided with a possible victory for the blockchain company after recording a series of minor wins during the hearing. 

In his other prediction, Deaton speculated that in 2023, the regulator would likely sue crypto exchanges for selling unregistered securities. Notably, SEC is suing Ripple for selling unregistered XRP securities raising over $1.3 billion.

At the same time, its worth mentioning that United States attorney Jeremy Hogan also projected possible outcomes in the lawsuit. As reported by Finbold, Hogan pointed out that each part has an equal chance of winning the case. 

Case update

At the moment, the focus of the crypto community is on the possible date for the ruling, even as defense lawyer James Filan pointed out the matter should be settled before March 31. 

Notably, Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson claimed the suit’s ruling would be settled back on December 15. However, with the date passing, Hoskinson was subjected to attacks pushing him to cut ties with the XRP community. 

Furthermore, both SEC and Ripple are tussling over the sealing of several documents. In this line, the SEC had filed a motion seeking to seal documents deemed confidential, a matter Ripple has since opposed. 

XRP price analysis

By press time, XRP was trading at $0.38 with 24-hour gains of almost 2%. 

With XRP witnessing increased buying pressure, the token’s market cap stands at $19.09 billion, with the outcome of the case likely to have an impact on the value of XRP.

Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.