Judge Sarah Netburn will not allow Ripple to access the cryptocurrency trading history of SEC employees, as revealed in a court filing.

A federal judge has denied Ripple’s motion to gain access to the trading history of SEC employees, according to a court filing. Ripple was seeking to obtain information relating to employees’ transactions in bitcoin, ether, and XRP, and additionally certifications relating to XRP holdings.

Judge Sarah Netburn, a US Magistrate Judge, denied the motion, covering the development of SEC’s policies concerning trading. Ripple argued that individual trading decisions would at minimum expose the lack of clarity regarding XRP’s status. The argument is that this would undermine the SEC’s case.

The decision is yet another move in a drawn-out case with the SEC. Ripple has firmly denied any wrongdoing and has time and again fought back against allegations. The judge has also denied an SEC motion to suppress a deposition in the case.

But the SEC is not budging either in what is the most high-profile lawsuit yet. As one of the one market’s most popular tokens, any negative development could have a tremendous impact. Ripple is popular worldwide and is working with several banks around the world on remittance solutions.

The protracted case is a regular headliner and not without reason. Ripple is gearing up for some major development in the months to come amidst this case.

Ripple intends to fight

On its part, Ripple is taking the fight to the SEC, repeatedly seeking various ways to undermine the agency’s case. On some occasions, it has been successful, on others, not so. As for how the case might eventually end, that is anyone’s guess.

Ripple denied that it had conducted an ICO, a point relevant as the court determines whether it violated securities laws. Ripple’s legal team has said that they do not plan on settling the case — which indicates how strongly they feel about their case.

Ripple is confident enough that it expects to launch an IPO. It only intends to do so after the SEC case concludes, which should occur by the end of the year. At the very least, should the case be unsuccessful, the firm could receive a large fine.

As this case has been developing, Ripple has been transferring XRP to Jed McCaleb as a part of a deal. It most recently transferred 408 million XRP, worth over $400 million.