Two more parties are attempting to weigh in on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple.
The two new parties are Phillip Goldstein, a managing member at the investment advisory firm Bulldog Investors, and the Investor Choice Advocates Network (ICAN).
ICAN bills itself as “a nonprofit public interest law firm representing parties who cannot afford counsel in precedent-setting Securities and Exchange Commission matters impacting barriers to entry to capital markets.”
Both Goldstein and the ICAN, who are represented by the same lawyer, seek the court’s permission to file a legal document known as an amicus brief in the Ripple case, according to a motion shared by digital asset legal website CryptoLaw.
In the proposed amicus brief, the parties argue that the SEC is relying on a vague term to regulate digital assets.
“The SEC treats the term ‘investment contract’ as though it were infinitely flexible and applicable to all manner of investments. But, the statutory source for the term ‘investment contract’ gives no indication that Congress meant this term to be a catch-all phrase to capture financial transactions unrelated to ‘any interest or instrument commonly known as a security.'”
They also argue that Congress is still deciding how to regulate digital assets, citing 11 different pieces of potential legislation. The parties say the SEC has “no authority” to regulate digital assets until a consensus is reached.
Additionally, they argue the SEC’s attempt to regulate crypto exceeds its traditional authority previously delegated by Congress.
Crypto legal expert and Ripple supporter Jeremy Hogan says new parties in the case are “hitting the SEC from all angles.”
Last week, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that TapJets, which bills itself as the Uber of private jet chartering, and remittance company I-Remit can now both serve as an “amicus curiae” in the case in support of Ripple Labs.
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