Chris Helgren/Reuters
- Ripple has requested documents from 15 overseas crypto exchanges to support its case.
- The SEC accused Ripple and two of its executives of violating the Securities Act by selling XRP.
- Ripple has repeatedly denied this and says XRP is a currency and not a security.
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Ripple has filed a motion seeking documents from overseas crypto exchanges to support its case in its ongoing legal battle with the SEC. The motion requests that the SEC accept documents from 15 crypto exchanges and requests support from various international authorities. Ripple filed the request on Wednesday with the District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple and two of its executives, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen, at the end of 2020 for violating the Securities Act. The SEC claims Ripple sold the XRP token as a security without having gone through the proper approval and registration process, raising $1.3 billion in the process.
In February the SEC amended its claims, saying Ripple's XRP sales suppressed the cryptocurrency's price and that Garlinghouse and Larsen misled investors by publicly commenting on their investment positions at the time of the sales.
Ripple has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has stated XRP is a currency, rather than a security and the sales were therefore legal. The newly requested documents also show Ripple's XRP sales did not take place within US jurisdiction and therefore did not fall under the Securities Act, according to the company.
Therefore, Ripple has now requested documents from 15 crypto exchanges and aligned authorities in countries including the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Seychelles, and Malta that support its case.
Earlier in the week, the SEC took a hit in the case as courts denied the authorities request to access communications between Ripple and the firm's legal advisors.
There is still no tight regulatory guidance on cryptocurrencies and crypto investments, as the asset class is only just starting to become more mainstream. The SEC has said that it treats cryptocurrency assets, as securities, in the same way it would say, trading stocks.
Last month, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said the SEC would tackle "bad actors" in all areas of finance, including crypto, in order to protect investors and that the authority needed to be prepared to fight crypto-related cases.