SEC Appeal Could Shake Up Ripple XRP Lawsuit!

Key Points:

• The SEC has officially filed an appeal against Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling that XRP is not a security, aiming to overturn the decision that resulted in Ripple only paying $125 million in penalties.
• The Ripple XRP lawsuit could pause pretrial proceedings and the trial, shifting Ripple’s focus and potentially hindering its growth as it battles the SEC’s claims.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of the U.S. has officially filed its notice of appeal in the highly-watched Ripple XRP lawsuit, according to a new filing presented to a New York court on Wednesday.

Ripple Faces New Legal Challenge from SEC

This move comes after Judge Analisa Torres ruled in August that the Ripple XRP lawsuit is not considered a security – pretty big news for Ripple and the entire cryptocurrency market. Nonetheless, Ripple was ordered to pay over $125 million in civil penalties.

The SEC finally took action on Monday, seeking to turn key parts of Judge Torres’ ruling, after weeks of speculation and days before the deadline for an appeal. The court famously decided that Ripple’s programmatic sales and distribution of Ripple XRP lawsuit in exchange for labour and services do not classify as securities offerings. In response, the appeal by the SEC aims to delay pretrial proceedings and the trial pending the resolution of this new development.

Read more: Bitwise XRP ETF S-1 Form Now Filed With SEC

Ripple’s Growth May Be Affected by Appeal

Ripple XRP lawsuit has publicly come out to say it won’t contest the fine of $125 million. However, the SEC is still opposed, citing that the district court’s ruling runs counter to Supreme Court precedents and laws on securities. An SEC spokesperson said: “We believe the district court decision in the Ripple matter conflicts with decades of Supreme Court precedent and securities laws and look forward to making our case to the Second Circuit.”

That development comes a day after Bitwise applied to offer a Spot XRP ETF, which raised a lot of red flags among investors that the outcome of the appeal might hurt their chances of getting ETF approval. The appeal will be very disastrous for Ripple as it might require the company to divert attention in arguing the appeal. Ripple Labs is yet to state the latest filing by the SEC.