Lawyers representing Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in the case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a motion for additional international discovery on Aug. 2.
Garlinghouse is seeking to obtain evidence from Binance Holdings Limited, a Cayman Islands-based subsidiary of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Citing the Hague Convention, the defense is asking the court to issue a Letter of Request on behalf of the defendant to seek the assistance of the Central Authority of the Cayman Islands.
The Ripple boss believes that the Binance entity has unique documents concerning his XRP transactions, which makes them relevant to the case:
Mr. Garlinghouse seeks foreign discovery on the basis of his good faith belief that the listed entity possesses unique documents and information concerning this case, and specifically, concerning the process by which transactions in XRP allegedly conducted by Mr. Garlinghouse on foreign digital asset trading platforms were conducted.
Garlinghouse's lawyers continue to insist that the SEC has failed to allege domestic offers in its amended complaint, and obtaining additional evidence could bolster the top executive's pending motion to dismiss the lawsuit that was filed back in April.
Alex DovbnyaIn June, Garlinghouse and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, who was also named as an individual defendant in the case, filed a similar motion to obtain documents from a total of 14 cryptocurrency exchanges, including Bitfinex's parent company iFinex, Bithumb, Bitstamp and other notable names.
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, who presides over discovery disputes, greenlit the request.
Garlinghouse's lawyers claim that the SEC does not object to the most recent motion.
In May, Judge Netburn also ruled that the regulator could continue sending requests to foreign counterparts in order to receive documents from Ripple's overseas partners and crypto exchanges.
As reported by U.Today, the court granted the SEC's request to extend discovery in the Ripple case by 60 days.
The pre-trial discovery phase will drag on until Oct. 15.
The SEC filed its blockbuster lawsuit against Ripple and its top executives in late December over allegedly unlawful XRP sales.
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin