XRP holders granted amicus status in Ripple vs SEC case

The judge however rejected a request seeking to have XRP holders as defendants

A judge in the Ripple versus SEC case has allowed six XRP holders to participate in the lawsuit with amicus status.

On Monday, US District Judge Analisa Torres said that six individual holders of XRP can be included in the case as “amicus curiae”, essentially allowing them to offer their opinion, expertise and insight about the case.

“The court concludes that amici status strikes a proper balance between permitting movants to assert their interest in this case and allowing the parties to remain in control of the litigation,” the judge wrote.

The group of six token holders will now give their views on the case, in which the US securities regulator has accused Ripple Labs and two of its top executives of illegally conducting a $1.3 billion token sale.

An attorney representing the XRP holders has said the “list [of six] is not public,” and that any name and contact information related to the individual will only be released if the party concerned consents to it.

Judge rejects XRP holders’ request to be defendants

The judge’s decision comes several months after XRP holders filed a motion seeking to be enjoined in the case. The intervention motion filed in March outlined that the SEC’s action against Ripple also touched on the interests of the cryptocurrency’s investors, meaning that they too needed to be included as defendants.

In their argument, the XRP holders had said that the SEC’s charge against Ripple had impacted the value of XRP in the market. This happened as several cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms halted the trading of the token following the filing of the lawsuit in December.

While the judge allowed the inclusion of the token holders as ‘amicus curiae’, she rejected their request to become defendants.

According to Judge Torres, having XRP holders appear as defendants would force the SEC to open a case against them. This would also affect the progression of the case, probably delaying it even further to the detriment of Ripple and XRP investors whose desire is to see the case conclude as soon as possible.

XRP price has gained over 14% in the past week to currently trade around $1.05.

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