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Ripple Labs Files to Move Class Action Lawsuit to Federal Level
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Ripple (XRP) investors are suing Ripple Labs for failing to register as a security before its token offering, in addition to claims that CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been manipulating the price to maximize sales profits, according to Law.com. This is one of many cases made against the digital asset company.
Ripple Labs’ Defense Strategy
However, Ripple Labs is attempting to move the lawsuits from a state level to a federal court. Attorneys claim that the cases match the criteria required to move to a higher court. If accepted, the case will move from the San Mateo Superior Court to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, as revealed by court documents last Wednesday. Ripple’s counsel also revealed their defense:
“Plaintiffs do not allege that they lacked information about the nature of these transactions. Nevertheless, Plaintiffs claim that they were somehow injured because the Defendants were allegedly required to register XRP as a ‘security’ with the Securities & Exchange Commission (‘SEC’) but failed to do so.”
Litigation partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Peter Morrison, detailed the requirements. Morrison states that a class action lawsuit can be removed to a suitable court assuming that “(1) the action purports to be a ‘class’ action brought on behalf of 100 or more members; (2) any member of a class of plaintiffs is a citizen of a state different from any defendant; and (3) the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million.”
The standards were established by the U.S. Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). Over 100 members are suing Ripple Labs, and at least one plaintiff comes from a different state than the company. Finally, the total amount being sued for is higher than $5 million.
Avner Greenwald, who resides in Israel, claims that “thousands” of people lost money on an XRP investment, according to CoinDesk. Some of the lawsuits are even asking the company to pay 167.7 million in damages.
A day after Ripple published the motion to move to a federal level, plaintiffs filed their own to keep the case in the San Mateo Superior Court. Ripple Labs must respond to that remand within two weeks of it being denied, or within two weeks after the case reaches the San Mateo court, whichever comes first.
Suggested Reading : Learn how to safely store your Ripple (XRP).
A Brilliant Action
As reported by Smartereum, a government securities litigation and enforcement defense attorney at Kobre & Kim revealed the expertise behind this move:
“The Ripple Labs legal team has displayed tactical brilliance here. It’s difficult (sic) explain this smart move in one tweet and I don’t want to do a thread on this issue. However, all I can say is that it is a smart move to push the matter to a federal court. Even if it might not work, it’s still strategic”.
Essentially, the move is smart because this case will become a “nationwide class action lawsuit” even if it stays at a state level.
Unfortunately for the XRP project, this battle over regulation has prevented it from being listed on exchanges like Coinbase. While the SEC has ruled that neither Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) are securities, we’ve yet to see how that will work with XRP.

U.K. startup Revolut has announced that its customer base has surpassed three million users. The fintech platform, which has quickly become a viable online alternative to traditional banking, was established in 2015. It currently offers payment and exchange services for a growing number of fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies.
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Fintech Startup Defies Skepticism
The company marked the milestone on Twitter: “Three years ago, banks and investors laughed at us. Today, we have signed up three million customers and no one is laughing now. Thank you!” The announcement came about three months after Revolut launched a new debit card that offers support for some of the leading digital coins.
Revolut Metal is the platform’s premium service. For a monthly fee of €13.99 (less than $16), users can get a free U.K. current account and an Iban account for euros, with unlimited exchange in 24 fiat currencies. The new card also offers access to five cryptocurrencies — bitcoin cash (B*H), bitcoin core (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), and ripple (XRP) — as well as the ability to spend over 150 currencies at the interbank exchange rate.
The contactless Revolut Metal card comes with fee-free ATM withdrawals of up to €600 per month (over $670). According to the product page, the online banking startup also offers cardholders cash back on all their payments and purchases — up to 0.1 percent within Europe and up to 1 percent elsewhere.
The launch of the exclusive card, which supports digital assets and can be used anywhere that Mastercard is accepted, has likely played a role in the expansion of Revolut’s customer base. There are very few other optionson the market in the European Economic Area matching the services offered by the U.K. company.
Plans for Expansion to Other Continents
Revolut’s platform is currently available to residents of the following European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. The company plans to enter markets outside Europe as well, including North America (U.S. and Canada) and Australia.
The British startup with Russian roots also plans to operate in the Russian Federation. In June, Revolut announced a partnership agreement with Qiwi, the country’s leading payments provider. Russian users will be granted access to Revolut’s services via Qiwi’s online banking infrastructure. It has been reported that in Russia, Revolut will initially only provide financial services to private individuals. At launch, they’ll be able to install the company’s online banking app and order a free Visa card with support for multiple currencies.
Revolut is likely to face some competition. Oleg Tinkov, the founder of a Russian project offering similar services, said at a recent fintech forum that there’s no reason for the U.K. startup to go to Russia. The holders of the Tinkoff Black card can already open accounts in 30 currencies and take advantage of favorable exchange rates. What Tinkov didn’t mention, as noted by news outlet Bitnovosti, was that his platform does not support cryptocurrencies.
Revolut’s Russian-born founder and CEO, Nikolay Storonsky, responded:
We are not going to abandon our plans … Large players see us as a serious competitor. They try to copy our products and break down into
emotions in our presence.
Storonsky, whose company raised $250 million at a valuation of $1.7 billion this past spring, also recently commented on the possible influx of institutional investors into the cryptocurrency space. The entrepreneur voiced skepticism over these expectations, as such players have not expressed much interest thus far. “I just don’t think banks will catch up,” he said.
One thing Storonsky’s unicorn startup has been criticized for is that its platform does not support transfers of cryptocurrencies to other wallets. Responding to another suggestion to introduce the feature in the comments below the “three million customers” tweet, Revolut admitted that it does not have any immediate plans to do so. However, it promised to pass the feedback over to its development team.