XRP Lawyer John Deaton Files Notice of Appearance in LBRY Lawsuit

Attorney John Deaton, known for his representation of XRP token holders involved in the legal battle against the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), has officially filed a formal notice of appearance as an Amicus Curiae in the LBRY lawsuit.

This recent development follows LBRY’s filing of an appeal notice to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit a week ago. The appeal aims to contest the final judgment issued on July 11, which ordered LBRY to pay a civil penalty and prohibited its involvement in unregistered offerings of cryptocurrency securities.

• In a document filed on September 14th with the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Deaton has formally submitted his Notice of Appearance on behalf of an Amicus Curiae Naomi Brockwell.
• Both Deaton and Brockwell are the co-founders of Crypto Law, a platform that provides updates on legal and regulatory developments related to digital assets in the country.
• Confirming the development, Deaton tweeted,

“Win, lose or draw, we will be in the fight!”

• The SEC’s scrutiny of LBRY began in March 2021, when the regulator claimed that the LBRY Credit token (LBC) was a security under the 1933 Securities Act.
• In November 2022, a New Hampshire District Court ordered LBRY to pay $22 million to the SEC, deeming LBC an unregistered security based on the Howey test.
• The ruling was challenged by the decentralized content-sharing and publishing platform, arguing the $22 million penalty didn’t account for legitimate business expenses related to software development and hosting.
• Due to the company’s insolvency, the SEC requested a reduced penalty, resulting in a revised sum of $111,614.
• Subsequently, LBRY announced plans to gradually cease operations, but recent legal victories by Ripple and Grayscale against the SEC have sparked optimism for a favorable appeal outcome.