By Jody Godoy. July 11, 2022. (Reuters)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has made an “unprecedented” move to keep the names of its expert witnesses under wraps, Ripple Labs Inc said in a filing in the agency’s highly-watched case over the cryptocurrency XRP.
The San Francisco-based company told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres on Sunday that the SEC had insisted Ripple’s challenges to three SEC experts be filed under seal, until the judge decides whether to shield the opinion of a fourth expert whom the SEC says has faced “threats and harassment.”
The experts play a key role in the SEC’s lawsuit alleging Ripple and its current and former chief executives have been conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering by selling XRP, which Ripple’s founders created in 2012.
Attorneys in the cryptocurrency sphere are following the case closely as it could have legal ramifications for other digital assets.
Ripple and the executives have denied the allegations, and the company has argued that XRP has traded and been used as a digital currency.