Ripple submits new appeal in legal battle with SEC

• Ripple’s lawyers filed a new appeal on 1 September.
• Brad Garlinghouse has expressed discontentment over the SEC’s actions. 

Lawyers representing Ripple [XRP] have challenged the United States Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] over its request for an appeal in its ongoing lawsuit. In a filing dated 1 September, Ripple’s legal team argued that the SEC’s appeal was primarily driven by its dissatisfaction with a prior court decision.

The filing was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It further asserted that the SEC has failed to meet the necessary requirements for an appeal. Moreover, the filing called for the judge to deny any such request.

Ripple’s legal team maintained that “exceptional circumstances required for interlocutory appeal” are conspicuously absent in this case.

Ripple expressed its stance in clear terms, stating,

“The SEC has not even attempted to meet the standard for a stay, even after the Individual Defendants identified that omission in their pre-motion letter. The Individual Defendants write separately to oppose the SEC’s request. Ripple joins that opposition.”

SEC seeks appeal in the XRP lawsuit

This legal dispute traces back to December 2020 when the SEC initiated a lawsuit against Ripple, including its CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. The lawsuit led to many exchanges delisting XRP as a precaution against potential legal repercussions.

However, Judge Analisa Torres ruled in July that XRP did not meet the SEC’s criteria for classification as a security. Following this decision, several exchanges announced plans to relist XRP, indicating a shift in sentiment.

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, expressed his concerns about the SEC’s actions in a post on 29 August. Garlinghouse remarked,

“It’s sad that so many in the US crypto community have to resort to the legal process to prove this SEC is out of control and consistently wrong on the facts and the law.”

While these are great outcomes… and it’s feeling like a summer of justice…

it’s sad that so many in the US crypto community have to resort to the legal process to prove this SEC is out of control and consistently WRONG on the facts and the law. https://t.co/sdZpaO4coh

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) August 29, 2023

The SEC has notably pursued various cryptocurrency companies throughout 2023 on allegations of securities violations, including Ripple [XRP] and Coinbase [COIN].

In a significant development, asset manager Grayscale achieved a legal victory against the SEC on 29 August. The victory resulted from an appeal that ordered a review of Grayscale’s application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The legal battle between the SEC and Ripple continues. Judge Analisa Torres has proposed a jury trial scheduled for the second quarter of 2024. This high-profile case remains a focal point in the ongoing regulatory landscape of the cryptocurrency industry.