The ongoing legal battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple continues to evolve following the SEC’s recent appeal. On October 16, the SEC submitted a Form C civil appeal questioning certain aspects of the court’s prior summary judgment that favored Ripple in the matter of XRP ’s classification.
Ripple’s defense team, led by attorney James Filan, noted that this appeal specifically challenges the decisions surrounding the sales of XRP on exchanges as well as the personal sales conducted by Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen. However, legal experts point out that the SEC’s actions do not contest the ruling that XRP is not deemed a security, a key point emphasized by Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty.
The SEC’s appeal alleges that Garlinghouse and Larsen contravened securities laws by conducting XRP sales and claims they contributed to Ripple’s violations of these laws. The appeal also seeks to revisit the court’s grant of partial summary judgment which benefitted Ripple, specifically regarding the legality of XRP sales on exchanges and other non-cash transactions involving XRP .
The timeline for these proceedings suggests a lengthy continuation of the case, with Ripple expected to file its own Form C in response to the SEC’s appeal within the coming week. An agreement on a briefing schedule between the two parties will follow, allowing the SEC up to 90 days to submit its initial brief. This process is expected to extend through July 2025, indicating that the resolution of this high-profile case remains a considerable way off.
A previous ruling in August 2023 by Judge Analisa Torres from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York partially favored Ripple, establishing that XRP is not classified as a security when sold on digital asset exchanges. Yet, Ripple was still subjected to a civil penalty of $125 million for prior violations of the Securities Act of 1933.
