Lawyers representing XRP investors may still have an opportunity to refile in the future, however.
XRP tokenholders’ attempt to insert themselves as third-party defendants in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission case against Ripple may have come to an end.
According to court filings, federal judge Analisa Torres has denied a motion filed over the weekend on behalf of more than 6,000 XRP holders. The motion to intervene argues the interests of token holders — in this case, the XRP Army — were not being adequately represented in the lawsuit against Ripple and its executives.
Torres denied the motion “without prejudice,” meaning that lawyers representing XRP investors can refile in the future. The filing included a pre-motion letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, giving them an opportunity to respond.
According to court rules, the SEC is allowed three business days to respond to any such motion, but has requested an extension until March 22. It is unclear whether this extension, if granted, would also allow any legal team representing XRP token holders to file another motion to intervene. Barring an extension from the court, XRP investors may not have a seat at the table going forward in the SEC case against Ripple.
John Deaton of Deaton Law Firm first filed the motion to intervene on Sunday, later claiming on the firm’s website that XRP holders had suffered $15 billion in losses following the SEC’s announcement of its lawsuit against Ripple. The price of XRP fell more than 60% from $0.58 to $0.21 in December, but has since risen to $0.48 at time of publication.
Last year, the SEC charged Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen with conducting an “unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering” for their XRP sales. Many crypto exchanges have since announced they would suspend trading for XRP or delist the token. In addition, global money transfer service MoneyGram has terminated its long-standing partnership with Ripple.