SEC vs Ripple referred to judge who ordered release of ‘Hinman Documents’
The next phase of the ‘SEC vs Ripple’ case is set to move forward as U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York filed paperwork on July 17 referring the case to Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn.
First reported by journalist Eleanor Terrett, the court issued an “amended order of reference to a Magistrate” transferring judiciary oversight of the case to the Magistrate’s office:
NEW: District Judge Torres has referred the @Ripple case to Magistrate Judge Netburn for General Pretrial (includes scheduling, discovery, non-dispositive pre-trial motions and settlement). pic.twitter.com/EyrA3flpXC
The single-page document, which was viewed by Cointelegraph, indicates that the next step will be general pretrial. This stage usually entails discovery and a short window to raise objections.
General pretrial is the most likely portion of the proceedings for a settlement to occur. As Cointelegraph recently reported, experts believe that it’s unlikely the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will appeal the previous week's rulings by Judge Torres.
Related: Judge rules XRP is not a security in SEC's case against Ripple
In a partial victory for Ripple on July 13, Judge Torres ruled to dismiss the allegation that Ripple broke the law by posting its XRP token on public exchanges. This has been taken to mean that XRP is not a security, with implications for the crypto market as a whole.
Remaining, however, are accusations that XRP was sold as a security when Ripple sold it directly to investors via a marketing scheme that highlighted several aspects of XRP that, per the SEC, could lead investors to view it as a security.
Judge Netburn will oversee this ensuing phase where, as some experts
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