Dismisses

Ripple’s legal counsel Bill Morgan has dismissed speculation that the U.S. government could seize XRP tokens from the company’s escrow accounts for national reserve purposes.

Morgan’s blunt “No it won’t” response countered analyst John Squire’s claims about potential government confiscation of Ripple’s XRP holdings.

Technical transfer mechanisms exist but face limitations

XRPL validator “Vet” outlined a theoretical mechanism for transferring escrowed XRP to government control without waiting for scheduled releases. The process would involve setting the regular key of XRP escrow accounts to a government-controlled address, enabling complete transfer through a single XRPL transaction.

However, Ripple senior software engineer Mayukha Vadari noted significant limitations with this approach. “Wouldn’t work if you only wanted to do a partial transfer, though — it’s an all-or-nothing solution,” Vadari explained, highlighting the inflexibility of the proposed mechanism.

Correct, every account could only be “transferred” to one address. But there are many accounts out there, instead of one account with many escrows.

— Vet (@Vet_X0) March 3, 2025

SEC settlement process continues

Morgan has provided detailed updates on the SEC v. Ripple settlement negotiations, which began with Ripple signing an agreement on April 23, followed by SEC approval on May 8. The parties have successfully obtained court approval to hold appeals in abeyance through June 16.

The settlement process has encountered procedural complications. Judge Torres initially denied the parties’ first joint motion due to technical errors. A second joint motion addressing Rule 60 requirements was filed on June 12, seeking proper court approval for the settlement terms.

The agreed settlement reduces Ripple’s fine to $50 million and dissolves the injunction against XRP (XRP) sales. Upon completion, both the appeal and cross-appeal will be dismissed, ending the multi-year litigation.

Legal experts note that government seizure of cryptocurrency assets typically requires criminal conduct or national security threats. Ripple’s civil SEC case does not provide grounds for asset forfeiture, as the settlement acknowledges no criminal wrongdoing.

The company’s escrow structure, designed to provide market stability through controlled XRP releases, remains intact throughout the settlement process.

Ripple holds approximately 50 billion XRP in escrow accounts and releases up to 1 billion tokens monthly based on market conditions. This systematic approach has provided predictability for XRP markets and institutional users.

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In brief

The UK appeals court has dismissed the bulk of a $13.3B class action against Binance, rejecting claims that BSV could have reached Bitcoin-level value if not delisted in 2019.
The court ruled damages were speculative and unsupported, saying that investors had a duty to mitigate losses by selling in an open market.
The scope of the lawsuit was significantly narrowed, though smaller claims from investors who lost access or sold at a loss may still proceed.

The UK Court of Appeal has dismissed the majority of a $13.3 billion (£10 billion) class action against crypto exchange Binance, dealing a major blow to Bitcoin SV (BSV) investors who said the company’s 2019 delisting of the token crushed its growth potential.

The court rejected the investors’ “foregone growth effect” theory, which suggested BSV would have reached price levels similar to Bitcoin had it not been removed from major trading platforms, in a judgment handed down on Wednesday.

The claim sought 352 times the original value of BSV held by “sub-class B” investors, but the court deemed it speculative and ruled it could not proceed.

“I asked Mr. John Wardell KC… how the representative could possibly claim hundreds of times more than the value of the assets that the defendants had allegedly damaged,” wrote Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos in the ruling. “He was unable to give any answer.”

Wardell, a senior barrister at Wilberforce Chambers, represents BSV Claims Limited, the entity bringing the collective action on behalf of over 240,000 UK-based investors.

Last week, his team asked the court to revive the dismissed claims, including a “loss of chance” theory.

The Court found that the claimants’ own expert had relied on comparators like Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to estimate damages, undermining the argument that BSV was a unique or irreplaceable asset.

It also dismissed the “loss of chance” claim, ruling it was not legally applicable.

The judges explained the damages sought did not involve missed opportunities tied to third-party decisions or realistic probabilities.

Instead, the claim turned on whether BSV would have developed into a top-tier cryptocurrency, a question the Court said could be resolved on the balance of probabilities and not through speculative or fallback theories.

In doing so, the Court affirmed the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s July 2024 decision, which applied the “market mitigation rule,” a legal principle requiring claimants to take reasonable steps to reduce their losses when a functioning market is available.

Decrypt has reached out to Binance for comment and will update this story should the exchange respond.

Lawsuit narrowed

The judgment narrows the lawsuit, which also targets Kraken, ShapeShift, and Bittylicious over their 2019 delistings of the BSV token.

The BSV token, the full name of which is Bitcoin Satoshi Vision, was created by Craig Wright, whose claim to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto was dismissed by a UK court earlier this year.

While the Appeal Court dismissed the largest part of the lawsuit against Binance, some smaller claims could still move forward.

These include claims from investors who lost access to their BSV after it was removed from exchanges, or who sold it at a loss soon after the delisting.

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