The ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC may be coming to a close, according to recent reports. It is suggested that the SEC will not appeal Judge Analisa Torres’ recent partial judgment in favor of Ripple Labs. This strategic decision by the SEC is aimed at preventing further escalation of the case in higher courts, indicating a significant shift in their legal strategy.
The latest developments in the market indicate that the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit could be nearing its end. A recent report suggests that the SEC may choose not to appeal Judge Analisa Torres’ recent summary judgment, which partially favors Ripple Labs. This suggests a major change in the SEC’s strategy, as they seek to avoid further escalation of the case in higher courts.
This development comes as the crypto community awaits the court’s ruling on the remedies phase, which is scheduled to take place by the end of Summer 2024. After this ruling, the SEC may choose to initiate an appeal process. Kristina Littman, former head of the SEC’s Enforcement’s Cyber Unit, shared her insights on the SEC’s potential actions going forward during a recent conference on digital assets. She speculated that, considering other judicial opinions in similar cases, the SEC would be willing to accept the District Court’s decision. Littman stated, “I’ll be curious to see whether the parties appeal there.”
Littman also highlighted a possible judicial conflict that could complicate the appeal decision. She mentioned that there is speculation surrounding the disagreement between Judge Rakoff and the Terra opinion with Judge Torres’ logic from the Ripple opinion. Additionally, Coinbase does not address the Ripple opinion as much but instead adopts the Terra logic.
The question of whether the SEC will appeal the Ripple case has sparked speculation. Kristina Littman’s comments have led some to believe that the SEC is not planning to appeal. However, it remains to be seen how this will unfold.
In another development, Ripple achieved a small victory in its legal battle against the SEC. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed several key claims in a class action lawsuit against Ripple, which is a positive outcome for the company. This dismissal was granted in response to Ripple’s motion for summary judgment on federal class claims related to unregistered securities and state law securities claims. While this is a procedural win for Ripple, the court did not address the question of whether XRP qualifies as a security, leaving that decision to be made by a jury using the Howey Test criteria.
Separately, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse will face trial over allegations of making misleading statements in 2017 regarding XRP sales. A California judge ruled that Garlinghouse will go to trial in a civil securities lawsuit. This ruling stems from allegations that Garlinghouse made misleading statements during a 2017 interview on Canada’s BNN Bloomberg, where he expressed confidence in XRP despite allegedly selling millions of XRP tokens that year.
In the midst of a broader market sell-off, XRP continues to face pressure. At the time of writing, the XRP price is down 1.12% at $0.48, with a market cap of $27.3 billion.