A few weeks ago, the cryptocurrency community learned that the R3 consortium was suing Ripple over a business deal gone awry. Although a lot of people weren’t too bothered by this development, it turns out Ripple eventually prevailed in the lawsuit. The case in question has been thrown out by a Delaware judge.
R3 Loses Ripple Lawsuit
No one can deny the outcome of the R3-Ripple lawsuit was known well in advance. Although the consortium provided some solid evidence to back up their claim that Ripple had tried to back out of an earlier business deal, there was no real reason to think R3 would be successful in this legal battle. Late last night, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse confirmed as much, stating that the Delaware judge presiding over the case had thrown the case out entirely.
Although a lot of specifics remain hard to come by as to why this was the case, the positive news should not be overlooked. About a month ago, R3 filed its original lawsuit, which was promptly countered by Ripple in the form of a counter-suit. Ripple had evidence to prove R3 failed to deliver on their partnership and violated the agreement created between both entities about a year prior. It is evident this falling out between both companies has caused a lot of unnecessary friction in the process.
BREAKING NEWS: @Ripple has prevailed in lawsuit brought by @inside_r3 ! Delaware judge has just ruled and thrown out case against Ripple.
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 13, 2017
The big question is how things will evolve from here on out. It is unlikely both companies will ever work together again due to this lawsuit having taken place. It’s an interesting development regardless, considering that R3 was supposed to promote Ripple under the terms of the agreement. Additionally, Ripple was supposed to let R3 purchase a large amount of XRP at a very low price. It seems the consortium will need to do so at a much higher price if it still wishes to do so.
Moreover, this case highlights the fact that going for a lawsuit is not necessarily the best course of action in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. In fact, such legal action often has less of a desired effect than either party would like. R3 never got what it felt entitled to, whereas Ripple had to spend a lot of time and effort fighting a legal battle it would win in the end. No one came out for the better due to this court case; that much is rather evident.
At the same time, this news comes during a rather troublesome period for the R3 consortium. Although the team successfully launched its Corda project to the public, it also lost some key members in recent weeks. Losing this lawsuit is not necessarily the outcome the consortium had hoped for; that much is certain. Then again, it is doubtful they will lose any sleep over this development either.
In the end, this lawsuit will be nothing but a footnote in the history of blockchain and cryptocurrency. As is the case with most of these cases, the end result doesn’t surprise too many people, and it will not be a subject of conversation for much longer. Both Ripple and R3 can still succeed in their own respective ventures despite this unfortunate development. An interesting future lies ahead for both organizations; that much is certain.
