Ripple exec and XRP community back SEC commissioner’s LBRY lawsuit dissent

Stuart Alderoty, the chief legal officer of Ripple Labs, as well as members of the XRP (XRP) community, have expressed their support on X (formerly Twitter) for United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce’s stance against perceived “injustice” in the LBRY lawsuit.

Alderoty thanked Peirce and suggested that when ongoing injustices occur in non-fraud cases, especially when consumers are still awaiting resolution for fraud cases, it might be necessary to disregard standard protocols and raise concerns more vocally and promptly, potentially even by submitting an amicus brief to address the issue.

The SEC commissioner issued a dissenting statement regarding the LBRY lawsuit on Oct. 27. Peirce emphasized that the commission has recently initiated numerous enforcement actions against cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Ripple, LBRY, Kraken, Binance and Coinbase.

Thank you Commissioner. When you see injustices like this continue in non-fraud cases (while consumers wait for recourse from actual frauds) perhaps it’s time to let ordinary rules of protocol go by the wayside and speak out louder and sooner? Perhaps even with an amicus brief?

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) October 27, 2023

Peirce noted that the LBRY lawsuit was particularly disconcerting to her but stated she couldn’t discuss it due to ongoing litigation.

In July, blockchain-based file-sharing and payment network LBRY was determined to have violated Section 5 of the Securities Act 1933. Consequently, LBRY was permanently barred from engaging directly or indirectly in unregistered cryptocurrency securities offerings involving its native token.

The crypto platform initially sought to appeal a judgment by the U.S. SEC but later abandoned the effort. The XRP community supported the platform during the legal process, including the appeal. However, with the litigation concluding in the SEC’s favor, LBRY decided to close down, citing financial burdens and regulatory pressure as the reasons for its shutdown.

Related: Community reacts to SEC dropping XRP case and LBRY shutdown

Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton, in response to the commissioner’s statement, suggested it might be time to submit an amicus brief. Deaton believes that just as 75,000 individual holders expressed their views in court, it’s also important for someone with insider knowledge to speak out in a court of law.

Deaton had expressed his disapproval of the SEC’s actions against the company, which he believes caused financial distress.

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