- A class action lawsuit by XRP holders against the SEC has reached 70,000 members
- The action was started in January 2021 to protest against the SEC’s classification of XRP as a security
- The lawsuit blames the charge on the drop in the XRP price
The number of XRP holders who have signed up to a class action lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) crossed 70,000 this weekend. The barrier was crossed thanks to a tweet from attorney John Deaton, who is leading the class action, on Sunday, which said that the class action was just 101 people away from 70,000. There are now 70,100 signed up, all of whom hope that the SEC will be found to have overreached in their belief that XRP is a security.
We’ve hit 70,000 $XRP holders being represented by Attorney John Deaton! Please retweet. Let’s get to the 1/4 of a century in double quick time! Please see @JohnEDeaton1 feed for details. #75,000 #75k
— XRP-Wing Commander Twoddle 70k_JD QoS (@KevinTwoddleXRP) August 8, 2022
Lawsuit Challenges “Unlawful Expansion of Howey”
Deaton started the class action lawsuit against the SEC back in early January 2021, just weeks after the SEC launched its case against XRP, claiming that it was sold as a security in 2013.
According to Deaton, XRP holders from all 50 states in the U.S. and 141 countries worldwide have now joined forces to fight the SEC’s “unlawful expansion of Howey”, which refers to the Howey test for securities that the SEC uses to determine whether an asset is a security or not.
Signature Count Goes 10,000x in 36 Months
The class action lawsuit against the SEC started with just seven people, a number that has now gone 10,000x. Deaton celebrated the milestone by saying that the movement “has been a 100 percent organic evolution”. Deaton blames the illegal SEC action for the financial losses suffered by XRP holders after the news was announced.
Indeed, the XRP price did drop from $0.51 to $0.21 in the week after the announcement of the charges, but it still managed to hit $1.84 in April 2021, affording a more than 3x return for those who held. However, with exchanges delisting XRP due to its new status as a potential security, this may have hampered the actual ability to sell.
In July, the SEC was called out for its “hypocrisy” in the case after the judge rejected the agency’s claim to have certain evidence excluded.
