In an unexpected turn of events in the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC, Australian lawyer Bill Morgan has emerged in support of Judge Torres’ controversial decision. Morgan argues that the judge’s choice to individually examine Ripple’s XRP sales was not only valid but also based on the categories proposed by the SEC themselves.
In a series of tweets, Morgan dismantled the SEC’s complaints about Judge Torres’ ruling. He highlighted that it was the SEC who initially presented the three distinct categories of XRP sales: institutional sales, private sales, and programmatic sales. Morgan emphasized that these categories were not created by the judge but were brought up by the SEC due to their unique characteristics.
Morgan further explained that Judge Torres made the right decision in analyzing each category separately, citing the precedent set by the Marine Bank case. According to this precedent, every transaction must be evaluated based on its context, intent, and overall factual setting. Taking this into consideration, Morgan argued that Torres’ approach of individually assessing the transactions in relation to the SEC’s categories was not only fair but also efficient.
The judge’s analysis revealed significant differences within the categories themselves. For instance, institutional buyers had signed contracts with Ripple, while programmatic buyers did not. Additionally, Ripple had no knowledge of the buyers in programmatic sales, and the buyers themselves were unaware of who they were purchasing from.
Furthermore, the judge concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that Ripple made promises to programmatic buyers, nor did the buyers expect to profit from Ripple’s efforts. Morgan contends that the judge’s decision to consider the viewpoint of a reasonable investor for each category was inevitable. This hypothetical legal construct takes into account the actual facts of each case. In this particular case, the reasonable investor had different expectations due to the significant differences between Ripple’s sales categories as defined by the SEC.
John Deaton, Founder of CryptolawUS, expressed support for Morgan’s argument. Deaton praised Judge Torres for not arbitrarily distinguishing between the different sales and instead basing her decision on the classifications outlined by the SEC. He also mentioned that he believes the judge will unlikely be reversed on appeal.
The support from legal experts like Morgan and Deaton adds another layer to the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC. It remains to be seen how this fresh perspective will impact the outcome of the lawsuit.
