SEC to appeal Ripple case again
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking to appeal a previous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a lawsuit against Ripple, according to filings on Wednesday. An SEC spokesperson told the media:
“We believe the district court’s ruling in Ripple conflicts with decades of Supreme Court precedent and securities laws, and we look forward to making our position clear to the Second Circuit.”
Regarding this appeal, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse posted on social media platform X:
“They don’t seem to understand yet: they lost on all critical points. Ripple, the cryptocurrency industry, and the rule of law have won. We will continue to fight in court, but let everyone be clear: XRP’s status as a non-security is current The law is established and that will not change even in the face of this wrongful and outrageous appeal."
On the other hand, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty also said that Ripple is considering a cross-appeal. This means Ripple has the option to appeal the judge’s ruling against the institutional sale or the $125 million fine. Both appeals will be resolved in a case in the Second Circuit.
The story of SEC v. Ripple
Back in 2020, the SEC accused Ripple of violating securities laws by selling XRP tokens. The SEC considered XRP an unregistered security, and Ripple raised more than $1.3 billion through the sale of such unregistered securities.
In the ruling in July this year, the judge made a key decision: Ripple was not deemed to have violated securities laws when it sold XRP in a "planned sale"; however, selling XRP directly to institutional investors was. It is considered to fall within the scope of securities trading.
However, the SEC disagreed with this ruling and appealed. District Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York ruled in August that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP to retail customers through its trading platform did not violate federal securities laws. However, Ripple's 1,278 "institutional sales transactions" did violate securities laws, so Ripple was fined $125.035 million. Still, the $125 million fine is far less than the SEC's original request for $1 billion in disgorgement and $900 million in civil penalties.
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