SEC will appeal again against Ripple case

According to Wednesday's documents, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking an appeal against the previous ruling of the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the Ripple lawsuit. An SEC spokesperson told the media:

We believe that the ruling of the district court in the Ripple case conflicts with decades of Supreme Court precedent and securities law, and we look forward to clarifying our position to the Second Circuit Court

Regarding this appeal, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse posted on social media platform X stating:

They seem to have not understood yet: they have lost at all key points. Ripple, the cryptocurrency industry, and the rule of law have already won. We will continue to fight in court, but please be clear: XRP's status as a non security is determined by current laws, and even in the face of such erroneous and infuriating appeals, this will not change

On the other hand, Stuart Alderoty, the legal director of Ripple, also stated that Ripple is considering cross appeal. This means that Ripple can choose to appeal against the judge's ruling on institutional sales or a $125 million fine. Both appeals will be resolved in a case in the Second Circuit Court.

The whole story of SEC v. Ripple case

As early as 2020, the SEC accused Ripple of violating securities laws by selling XRP tokens. The SEC considers XRP to be an unregistered security, and Ripple has raised over $1.3 billion through the sale of this unregistered security.

In the July ruling of this year, the judge made a crucial decision: Ripple's sale of XRP through a "planned sale" was not deemed a violation of securities laws; But the act of selling XRP directly to institutional investors is considered to fall within the scope of securities trading.

However, the SEC did not comply with this ruling and appealed. New York Southern District Judge Anastasia Torres ruled in August that Ripple's programmatic sale of XRP to retail customers through a trading platform did not violate federal securities laws. However, Ripple's 1278 "institutional sales transactions" did indeed violate securities laws, and therefore a fine of $125.035 million was imposed on Ripple. However, the $125 million fine is still far below the SEC's original requirement of $1 billion for recovery and $900 million for civil fines.