SEC files appeal against Ripple ruling, two months after final ruling
2 min readThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on the 2nd that it will appeal the federal court’s decision in its lawsuit against Web 3.0 company Ripple.
An SEC spokesperson said of the move: “We believe the district court’s decision in Ripple is contrary to decades of Supreme Court precedent and securities law, and we look forward to taking our case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.”
#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP BREAKING: The @SECGov has filed a Notice of Appeal of Judge Torres’s Ruling. pic.twitter.com/j8bLIZQ5LT
— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪 (@FilanLaw) October 2, 2024
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple: The trial lasted four years
The legal battle began in 2020 when The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple for allegedly raising $1.3 billion using the cryptocurrency XRP, an unregistered security.
The trial then made progress in July 2023, when a New York judge ruled that Ripple’s sales of XRP to institutional investors violated securities laws, but sales to retail exchanges did not.
In August 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ordered Ripple to pay a 125 million USD fine and refrain from violating securities laws in the future.
However, the ruling was interpreted as a “partial victory” for Ripple against the U.S. SEC, as it significantly reduced the $2 billion fine the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had sought from the company.
The appeal comes less than two months after the ruling was handed down.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse responded to the appeal:
If Gensler and the SEC were rational, they would have moved on from this case long ago. It certainly hasn’t protected investors and instead has damaged the credibility and reputation of the SEC.
Somehow, they still haven't gotten the message: they lost on everything that… https://t.co/1hW7xVSL9b
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 2, 2024
“Rationally, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should have stepped back from this matter long ago. Far from protecting investors, this case is damaging the SEC’s credibility and reputation.
But somehow, they still haven’t gotten the message: they have lost on everything that matters: Ripple, the cryptocurrency industry, and the rule of law have already won.
“We will fight this in court as long as necessary, but XRP’s non-security status is well established, and today’s appeal is misguided and vexatious.”
The virtual currency XRP has already applied for an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Attention is focused on the future actions of the court and both parties.
