SEC Requests Court To Extend Discovery Phase of Lawsuit With Ripple for Two Months

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is requesting that the court extend the discovery phase of its lawsuit against Ripple Labs by an additional two months, according to new case documents.

The discovery phase is a pre-trial stage of a lawsuit where both parties present relevant information and evidence.

The SEC wants to extend the deadline for expert discovery from November 12th to January 14th, citing the need for “sufficient time to prepare rebuttal reports and depose a minimum of 14 expert witnesses.” The regulator says this extension won’t impact any other deadlines in the case.

Ripple opposes the January 14th extension, instead arguing that expert discovery should only be extended to December 10th.

Ripple says,

“The SEC’s proposed deadline of January 14… would needlessly prolong discovery, despite both parties’ stated intention to resolve this litigation on an expedited timeline.”

Attorney and crypto legal expert Jeremy Hogan, who is a Ripple supporter, argues on Twitter that the SEC’s request would push the conclusion of the lawsuit deep into 2022.

“What’s clear from this motion to extend discovery out two more months is that the SEC filed this $1.4 billion lawsuit without setting aside the resources to prosecute it. IF the judge grants it, the main parts of the case won’t be decided until March-May of ’22!”

The SEC officially filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs last December, alleging that XRP was an unregistered security upon its launch and remains a security to this day.

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Featured Image: Shutterstock/k_yu/Tun_Thanakorn