U.S. SEC to appeal the 2023 ruling on Ripple’s XRP programmatic sales

Eleanor Terrett, a Fox Business journalist, recently shared that the U.S. SEC might appeal the 2023 ruling on Ripple’s XRP programmatic sales. She mentioned that the speculation came from a former U.S. SEC lawyer who believed the appeal could result from the commission’s belief that the ruling was incorrect.

The former U.S. SEC lawyer also reportedly said that the commission believes Judge Annalisa Torres’s ruling in July last year was not good and should be appealed. The speculations come before the October 7 deadline for the U.S. SEC to appeal the XRP case.

Judge Torres ruled that XRP programmatic sales failed to meet the third condition of the Howey Test. The judge then ruled that XRP transactions on exchanges were not against the U.S. securities regulations. Torres still ruled that Ripple’s direct sales to institutional investors violated the securities laws.

Later, Judge Torres granted the commission its request to appeal against her ruling after her final judgment in August 2024. The U.S. SEC announced in August 2023 its filing for a motion for an interlocutory appeal against the judge’s ruling. The commission specifically mentioned its plans to challenge the judge, saying that Ripple’s programmatic sales to retail investors were against the securities regulations. 

Despite the looming possibility of an appeal, the price of XRP is still steady. It has gained 0.45% in the past 24 hours and is trading at $0.587 at the time of writing. The coin’s 24-hour trading volume is also up over 25%, hitting $1.249 billion. 

Crypto Twitter finds the commission’s possible appeal underhanded

Of COURSE they think the opinion is wrong – they were on the losing side.

What the SEC SHOULD be thinking of right now is whether an appeal furthers its mandate of investor protection and capital formation. Why isnt that top of mind?

More evidence the SEC has lost the plot.

— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) September 26, 2024

An attorney at the law firm Hogan & Hogan, Jeremy Hogan, commented on Terrett’s tweet, saying that the U.S. SEC found the ruling wrong since the commission was on the losing side. Hogan insisted that the commission’s current stance should be pushing for investor protection and capital formation. The attorney also mentioned that the commission’s current focus shows that the U.S. SEC has lost its plot in crypto issues. 

An investigative journalist also commented that the commission should only appeal the ruling if it believes Ripple was wrong. The journalist agreed with Hogan, mentioning that retail markets have less sophisticated investors who need protection. 

The investigative journalist still mentioned that the commission could appeal the ruling because it dislikes it instead of Ripple being in the wrong. The journalist further cited U.S. SEC chair Gary Gensler’s quote that disliking a law differs from not understanding it. 

Ripple’s Stuart Alderoty believes the case is over

The Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, Stuart Alderoty, spoke in August about the Ripple case, mentioning that the lawsuit was over. During his interview with Crypto Law U.S., Stuart mentioned that the ruling signified the finality of the case. He also highlighted the court’s continued rejection of the U.S. SEC’s overreach. Stuart divulged that the possibility of an appeal was low.

Attorney Jeremy Hogan also provided insight that the U.S. SEC has not made a decision to appeal yet. Another lawyer, Fred Rispoli, commented on the possibility of the appeal, saying that even in the case of one, the court would not make a ruling until 2026. Rispoli added that the commission’s recent charges against different exchanges and terming different tokens as securities lessened the severity of the U.S. SEC claims.