The Ripple community is at a loss to explain the motivation behind a class-action lawsuit filed by Florida man Tyler Toomey against Ripple Labs and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse over a $48.56 loss.
In November 2020, Toomey purchased 135 XRP tokens at $0.724 each for a total value of $97.80. Following news of another lawsuit against Ripple in Dec that year, Toomey sold his investment for $49.24, suffering a loss of almost 50%. He’s now launched a class action costing eight times more in filing fees than the loss he claims to have incurred.
According to the Middle District of Florida website, where the lawsuit was filed, the cost of filing a civil action is $402.
Adding to the general weirdness of the case the amount demanded by Toomey is $5,000,001,000 and the Magistrate presiding over the case shares his unusual surname — Magistrate Judge Joel B. Toomey.
The filing states that the class-action is on behalf of Toomey (the plaintiff, not the magistrate), “and all others similarly situated against Defendants Ripple Labs,” so it’s possible his motivation is to merely enable other investors to take similar action.
Toomey is also seeking “injunctive relief” due to the amount of XRP held by the defendants which the filing claims, “they can continue to monetize, while creating substantial risk to investors.”
The Ripple community don’t seem to know what to make of the case, with some having taken offense while others believe it a joke. One Twitter user offered $200 in XRP for Toomey to drop the lawsuit.
New Jersey attorney Jess Hynes suggested the law is at fault for enabling such malarky.
“This stuff is going to keep happening and you can blame Congress and the SEC for it. @RepMaxineWaters refused to do her job last session. Let’s hope she does it this go around.”
Ripple is currently trading at $0.25, down 4% in the day, suggesting few investors are taking this lawsuit to heart.