Blockchain startups Ripple and R3 are going to court to resolve a dispute over the unilateral termination by Ripple of an options contract on its XRP digital currency unit held by R3.
R3 fired the first exchange on Friday, according to Reuters, with the filing of a lawsuit over an alleged attempt by Ripple to terminate an agreement signed in September last year which gave R3 the right to purchase up to 5 billion XRPs for $0.0085 per unit at any time over the next two years.
With the value of many digital currencies soaring in the wake of the spectacular gains experienced by bitcoin, Ripple's XRP is now trading at for more than $0.20 each, representing a 2000% gain on R3's investment.
According to the R3 lawsuit, Ripple chief Brad Garlinghouse sought to nullify the options contract in an e-mail exchange with R3 CEO David Rutter in June, just as XRP began its rapid ascent in value.
Ripple has responded with its own lawsuit, alleging that R3 has failed to deliver on a separate agreement to provide access to R3's banking consortium partners and to promote its technology.