The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially appealed a federal judge’s ruling in its lawsuit against Ripple. The agency filed a “notice of appeal” with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, just under two months after Judge Analisa Torres issued a final ruling in the agency’s four-year-long case against the cryptocurrency company.
In July 2023, the judge concluded that while Ripple violated federal securities laws by selling XRP to institutions, its programmatic sales to retail exchanges did not violate securities regulations. The SEC attempted to file a temporary appeal of the ruling, but the judge denied it.
Last August, Judge Torres ordered Ripple to pay $125 million, far less than the nearly $2 billion the SEC had sought, including disgorgement, pre-trial interest, and civil penalties. Enforcement of the fine has been put on hold until the SEC has time to appeal or the appeals court issues a ruling.
In a statement, an SEC spokesperson said:
“We believe the district court’s decision in Ripple conflicts with decades of Supreme Court precedent and securities law, and we look forward to presenting our argument to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.”
Shortly after the SEC’s appeal announcement, a Ripple spokesperson cited a Twitter post by CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty. Garlinghouse wrote:
“[The SEC] failed at every important point.”
He affirmed:
“Ripple, the crypto industry, and the law have won… XRP ’s non-security status is now official law.”
Alderoty called the SEC’s appeal decision “disappointing, but not surprising.” In an interview in August, Alderoty told CoinDesk that he expected the SEC to have difficulty convincing the appeals court to overturn the district court’s ruling. “Even if they appeal, I would advise people to stay calm,” he said at the time.
