By Hassan Mehmood (Saudi Arabia)
The lawsuit against Ripple may diminish as the Securities and Exchange Commission’s major actor, who played an essential role in the case, will soon leave the office.
Berger’s Role in the Lawsuit
Marc P. Berger is serving as Acting Director at SEC’s Division of Enforcement. According to a press release shared by the SEC, Berger will leave the office this month.
In August 2020, he managed to take the seat of Deputy Director for Division of Enforcement, and in December, he was promoted to the post of Director of the Enforcement Division after Stephanie Avakian’s departure.
In his temporary tenure, Berger played a significant role in initiating the lawsuit against San Francisco-based Ripple for selling unregistered securities worth around $1.3 billion. The SEC sees XRP as a security, and security must be registered before raising any funds. The firm behind XRP raised funds without registering XRP with the US regulatory authorities. It also accused the crypto company of paying companies, such as MoneyGram, of utilizing its coin in operations.
The US regulator opened a legal case against Ripple Lab and mentioned the names of its executives, including Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse. Larsen is the Executive Chairman at Ripple, while Garlinghouse is serving at the post of chief executive. However, the crypto firm was founded by Larsen, David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto.
The SEC’s filed lawsuit is responsible for XRP’s price crash. After the news of legal action prevailed over the social media world, a significant number of investors cashed out the cryptocurrency in fear of a bearish cycle. Currently, XRP is exchanging hands at $0.27 after a substantial loss. Before legal action, the price was standing at $0.55 on December 21.
Many cryptocurrency exchanges either stopped trading of XRP temporarily or delisted it from the platforms. Notably, the cryptocurrency exchanges in the US, including Coinbase, have taken immediate action to delist XRP because the SEC called it security.
Berger has a record of taking severe actions against giant tech companies. For instance, he also took part in the regulator action against Telegram. The social media giant was bound to return $1.2 billion to the investors who were interested in launching Gram tokens. He is also known for raising questions on ICO projects.
At Tokenhell, we help over 5,000 crypto companies amplify their content reach—and you can join them! For inquiries, reach out to us at info@tokenhell.com. Please remember, cryptocurrencies are highly volatile assets. Always conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. Some content on this website, including posts under Crypto Cable, Sponsored Articles, and Press Releases, is provided by guest contributors or paid sponsors. The views expressed in these posts do not necessarily represent the opinions of Tokenhell. We are not responsible for the accuracy, quality, or reliability of any third-party content, advertisements, products, or banners featured on this site. For more details, please review our full terms and conditions / disclaimer.