U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn has granted a motion to push the discovery deadline in the case between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and San Francisco-based blockchain company Ripple to Feb. 28.
The extension was jointly requested by the parties in order to conduct additional depositions. Eight expert witnesses are yet to testify due to travel restrictions and personal issues.
The expert discovery phase was scheduled to end on Jan. 19.
Last week, the SEC filed a letter of supplemental authority in order to bolster its motion to strike Ripple’s pivotal fair notice defense, citing a recent ruling in another case. The defendants hit back at the agency’s claims, arguing that it was misapplying a recent verdict.
Ripple general counsel Stuart Alderoty recently urged the SEC to expedite the litigation process, reiterating that the agency has created an uneven playing field for the cryptocurrency industry.
The SEC filed its lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020, arguing that the XRP cryptocurrency is a security. Ripple’s legal team is now vying to find out why Bitcoin and Ether are held to different standards.
The expert discovery deadline has now been delayed four times. It was originally pushed back from Oct. 12 to Nov. 15. The expert discovery phase was then extended to Jan. 14 and Jan. 19 before the deadline was eventually pushed back to February.
As reported by U.Today, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the lawsuit against his company was an attack on the entire crypto industry.
Source: U.Today
