Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says the latest court ruling on Ripple’s securities lawsuit “is a big win.” He stressed that “absolutely nothing in the decision negates or changes the fact that XRP is, in and of itself, not a security.” The Ripple executive slammed allegations of misleading statements about his XRP position, stating that the […]
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Former SEC Official Predicts ‘Big Win’ for SEC in Terra Lawsuit — Expects Continued Rejection of Ripple/XRP Ruling
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s former head of internet enforcement has predicted a “big win” for the SEC in the lawsuit involving Terraform Labs. The ex-SEC official also expects District Judge Jed Rakoff to keep rejecting the ruling by District Judge Analisa Torres regarding Ripple and XRP.
Stark: ‘Expect a Big Win for the SEC’
Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official John Reed Stark shared some predictions regarding the regulator’s actions against crypto firms in a lengthy post on social media platform X on Monday. Stark is currently president of cybersecurity firm John Reed Stark Consulting. He founded and served as chief of the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement for 11 years. He was also an SEC enforcement attorney for 15 years.
The former SEC official wrote:
Prediction: Expect a big win for the SEC in the SEC/Terra litigation and a gracious (yet scathing) rebuke of the recent SEC/Ripple decision.
Stark noted that both the SEC and Terraform Labs “have now filed dueling summary judgment motions, each seeking an early victory about whether crypto tokens are securities.”
In the SEC lawsuit against Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon, Judge Jed Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) rejected District Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling regarding Ripple and XRP. “The court rejects the approach recently adopted by another judge of this district in a similar case, SEC v. Ripple Labs Inc.,” Judge Rakoff said in August.
The former SEC internet enforcement chief continued:
My take is that famed securities law expert Judge Jed Rakoff, who is presiding over the SEC/Terra matter, is chomping at the bit to (politely) label the Ripple decision by fellow SDNY Judge Analisa Torres as both aberration and abhorration.
Stark believes that for SEC lawyers, Judge Rakoff is “arguably considered the most respected and experienced securities law jurist not only in the SDNY but perhaps in the entire U.S. federal court system.” The ex-SEC internet enforcement chief concluded:
The stark reality is that Judge Rakoff already repudiated and spurned Judge Torres’s decision and it seems inevitable that he will do so again, not just at the summary judgment phase, but also anytime in the future when addressing the application of securities laws to digital assets.
What do you think about the predictions by former SEC internet enforcement chief John Reed Stark? Let us know in the comments section below.
Grayscale Files New S-3 With SEC, Pushing to Convert Bitcoin Trust Into NYSE Spot ETF After Court Win
Grayscale Investments, the leading digital asset manager by assets under management (AUM), unveiled on Thursday its latest submission to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This move seeks to list the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) as a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) on NYSE Arca. Grayscale’s latest S-3 submission comes on the heels of Grayscale’s victory in court last August. At the time, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned the SEC’s previous denial of Grayscale’s registration bid.
Grayscale Eyes NYSE Spot ETF Listing for Bitcoin Trust Post SEC Legal Victory
Undeterred by previous roadblocks, Grayscale is pressing forward with its ETF registration endeavor, with the ambition to morph GBTC into a publicly traded fund on NYSE Arca. This comes on the back of a D.C. Circuit judge’s ruling in August, pointing out the SEC’s failure to justify the “different treatment of similar products” such as bitcoin futures ETFs.
Post-ruling, Grayscale communicated to the securities regulator that the process should be fast-tracked, allowing GBTC to transition into a spot Bitcoin ETF. Adding to this, the SEC failed to adhere to the 45-day deadline to appeal the D.C. court’s verdict. In a bid to expedite the process, Grayscale has chosen to file another S-3 application, which essentially serves as a synopsis of a conventional S-1 prospectus.
“Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest crypto asset manager, today announced it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement on Form S-3 to register shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,” the firm declared on Thursday.
The S-3 announcement dovetails with GBTC’s recent ascension. To illustrate, in January 2023, GBTC’s discount to its net asset value (NAV) exceeded 48%. Just last week, the figure had dwindled to 16.59%, and by October 18, 2023, the discount had shrunk further to 12.54%.
The latest GBTC statistics indicate that investors are already viewing GBTC through a new lens, even prior to its approval. Grayscale operates under the umbrella of the Digital Currency Group (DCG), serving as one of its five major subsidiaries.
What do you think about Grayscale’s latest S-3 filing with the SEC? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.