XRP Army ‘Made a Difference’ in SEC Case Against Ripple, Says Lawyer

In brief

Lawyer John Deaton believes that the group known as the XRP Army made a difference in the SEC’s case against Ripple.
In 2023, a judge issued a split ruling that XRP sales via public exchanges did not violate securities laws. The legal saga came to a close this August as all appeals were dropped.
Deaton said that thousands of affidavits were submitted to the court, and were cited as a reason the judge gave a ruling partially in favor of Ripple.

Lawyer and XRP legal advocate John Deaton claims that the XRP Army—a group of online supporters that continued to back the cryptocurrency during its lows—played a role in Ripple successfully concluding its legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In an X post, Deaton cited the thousands of affidavits that self-proclaimed XRP Army members wrote and submitted to the court as a reason that Ripple secured a partial win against the regulator in its battle over the security status of XRP. An affidavit is a written statement that can be used as evidence in court.

The SEC and Ripple were embroiled in a legal dispute for nearly half a decade, after Ripple and two of its executives were sued in 2020 for the alleged offering of unregistered securities by selling XRP.

In October 2023, federal district judge Analisa Torres issued a split ruling, stating that XRP sales to institutional investors violated securities laws, but sales on public exchanges did not. The ruling was hailed across the crypto industry as a victory for Ripple, despite it leaving the company liable for its institutional sales.

“No credible person can argue that the XRP Army didn’t make a difference in the Ripple case,” Deaton wrote on X. “If they do, they’re either ignorant to the facts and truth or intentionally lying.”

“[Judge Torres] ruled XRP itself is NOT a security while citing XRP holder affidavits,” Deaton wrote on X. “Had she not cited those things, people could legitimately debate whether our efforts made a real difference. But the proof is in the decision itself.”

The XRP Army is a militant supporters group that formed as a response to the SEC’s case against Ripple. The legal dispute unified XRP investors, with thousands of affidavits being written to the court by Army members, according to Deaton.

“I submitted six affidavits that were used in the lawsuit because I was solely paid in XRP as an income, spent my XRP on goods and services, bills, etc,” XRP Army member James Rule told Decrypt. “Thousands came together, and the end result was a huge win for the industry.”

Deaton—who unsuccessfully challenged Elizabeth Warren for her Senate seat last year—also filed an amicus brief in support of Ripple’s legal position. An amicus brief is a legal document supplied to a court from a party that isn’t directly involved in the case.

Pseudonymous XRP Army member CryptoinsightUK further told Decrypt that some community members told the judge that they used XRP without even being aware of Ripple.

“You can’t buy something relying on an entity with the expectation of profit if you don’t even know the entity exists,” they said.

The legal battle between Ripple and the regulator continued to bubble until just last month as the SEC appealed the 2023 ruling, which was followed by a cross-appeal by Ripple. Both sides ultimately dropped their respective appeals just last month, as XRP Army members celebrated the result.

“We emerged from this battle bigger and stronger together,” pseudonymous XRP Army member MackAttackXRP told Decrypt, reacting to the news. “And we’ve known for years that we were on the right side of history.”