SEC urges judge to reject outsider’s ‘decisive evidence’ bid in Ripple case

According to reports, a man who was previously ordered to pay over $10 million to the US Securities and Exchange Commission has caught the public’s attention after he filed a last-minute request to intervene in the just-concluded Ripple case. 

The man, identified as Justin W. Keener claims to possess “decisive evidence” that will reportedly favor the defendants and the American public at large.

Mystery man offers to present ‘decisive evidence’

Many thought the Ripple vs. SEC case was finally over like the company’s CEO boasted in March. However, on the second of this month, a man named Justin W. Keener, who operated under the name JMJ Financial, submitted a five-page letter to Judge Analisa Torres asking to be allowed to present proprietary data and physical documents he claims could shed new light on the legal classification of investment contracts.

According to reports, Keener was not previously a party to the Ripple lawsuit; however, he reportedly believes the evidence he has can promote “liberty for the American people.”

Keener’s filing came late, just as the Ripple case seemed to be nearing resolution. While he has acknowledged the unusual timing, he insists that his evidence is critical.

According to Eleanor Terret’s post on X, the SEC filed its opposition to Keener’s request on April 8, 2025, asking the Judge to deny it outright.

The financial watchdog argues in court documents that Terrett shared that the District Court has lost jurisdiction over the case because the case has moved to the Second Circuit. This means the lower court of authority can not entertain Keener’s request, and any new evidence would need to be directed to the appellate court, not Judge Torres.

The agency also argues that Keener has not followed proper legal protocol because he did not file a formal motion to intervene. Keener’s letter is impassioned but it may not meet important technical requirements which gives the SEC the chance to have it dismissed because it was improperly filed.

The SEC believes that Ripple is perfectly capable of deciding if what Keener has is relevant or useful to its defense, as he claims. As far as it is concerned, since Ripple itself is not the one presenting the evidence, then it can’t be that important to the case and could even be redundant.

The Ripple vs. SEC case has been protracted

The financial regulator’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs and its executives, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, started in December 2020. The agency alleged that the company had raised over $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, which it considered an unregistered security.

Ripple won a partial victory in 2023 when Judge Analisa Torres delivered a split ruling. According to her, XRP was not a security when it was sold to retail investors on exchanges but its sales to institutional investors were classified as securities transactions.

This year, the case saw a lot of progress with Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, sharing on X in March that the SEC will drop its appeal in what he tagged a “resounding victory” for the company and the crypto space as a whole.

“This is it – the moment we’ve been waiting for,” he wrote. “The SEC will drop its appeal – a resounding victory for Ripple, for crypto, every way you look at it. The future is bright. Let’s build.”

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