SEC requests court extend the discovery phase of its lawsuit against Ripple by an additional two months

By Selena On Oct 21, 2021

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is asking the court to extend the discovery period of its case against Ripple Labs by two months.

SEC requests court to extend discovery phase of lawsuit with Ripple for two months

The discovery phase is the pre-trial stage of a case where both parties present relevant information and evidence. The SEC wants to extend the deadline for expert discovery from November 12, 2021, to January 14, 2022., citing the need for sufficient time to prepare rebuttal reports and remove a minimum of 14 expert witnesses. The regulator said the extension would not affect any other deadlines in the case.

Ripple opposes the January 14th extension instead of arguing that expert discovery should only be extended to December 10th. According to the SEC, Ripple intends to file its opposition to this letter motion on October 18, 2021. The SEC offered a compromise that expert discovery be completed by December 22, but the blockchain giant rejected that offer.

“The SEC’s proposed deadline of January 14… would needlessly prolong discovery, despite both parties’ stated intention to resolve this litigation on an expedited timeline”, Ripple said.

Lawyer and crypto legal expert Jeremy Hogan, a Ripple advocate, argued on Twitter that the SEC’s request will push the case’s conclusion in 2022.

“What’s clear from this motion to extend discovery out two more months is that the SEC filed this $1.4 billion lawsuit without setting aside the resources to prosecute it. IF the judge grants it, the main parts of the case won’t be decided until March-May of 22!”,
Jeremy Hogan stated.

Lawyer and crypto legal expert Jeremy Hogan, a Ripple advocate, argued on Twitter that the SEC’s request will push the case’s conclusion in the first half of 2022, summer at the latest.

“The case will be over by summer at the latest. An appeal could take 9-12 months to be decided, but while the appeal is going on, the trial judge’s ruling is the law”, Hogan said.

The SEC formally filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs last December, alleging that XRP was unregistered security at launch and remains security to this day.

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