The legal battle between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs seems not to be ending anytime soon, as recent developments suggest that the feud could run into next year.
The SEC Has No Right
Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty has responded to the SEC’s intention to file an appeal against Judge Torres’s partial summary judgment in favor of Ripple. According to Alderoty, the SEC has no “right” to appeal against the decision just yet, which is why they are seeking leave of the court to file an interlocutory appeal instead. He further confirmed that Ripple will respond to the SEC’s filing next week.
Alderoty tweeted:
The SEC does not have the “right” to appeal just yet which is why they are asking permission to file an “interlocutory” appeal. Ripple will file its response with the Court next week. Stay tuned.
Alderoty’s stance seems accurate, considering that the case is yet to be concluded. In fact, a few hours just before the SEC made its intention known to file an appeal, Judge Analisa Torres had issued a pretrial scheduling order to schedule a jury trial for the ongoing case in the second quarter of 2024.
The order further asked both parties to submit blackout dates for trial by August 23, 2023. This is to confirm the availability of both parties in the build-up to the trial date.
The SEC Is Not Backing Down
For weeks following Judge Torres’ ruling in favor of Ripple, many had speculated whether or not the SEC was going to appeal the decision or not. The SEC’s chair Gary Gensler had done little to suggest that an appeal was imminent as he remained cryptic whenever quizzed about it. In fact, many in the crypto community felt this was a sign that the SEC had accepted defeat.
However, the SEC has shown that it is not backing down anytime soon following the letter seeking to file an interlocutory appeal as the regulator remains adamant that Ripple’s XRP is indeed a security. An interlocutory appeal is usually filed against a non-final order while the case is still ongoing.
While it remains to be seen if the court will grant the SEC the right to appeal the decision, there is the possibility of the regulator asking the court to stay Judge Torres’ ruling while the appeal is ongoing. According to former federal prosecutor James Filan, “The SEC seeking a stay of all proceedings pending appeal is not unexpected.”
The regulator’s appeal undoubtedly represents a setback for Ripple and its community. However, a judgment in favor of Ripple on appeal could further cement the belief that victory is certain when the jury trial commences.
For one, pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton recently said that he was willing to bet a ‘significant sum’ that Ripple comes out victorious even in an SEC appeal.
Ripple’s XRP is currently trading at around $0.626, down 1.73% according to data from CoinMarketCap.
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