SEC's New Appeal: What It Means for Ripple and XRP

• The SEC is appealing the 2023 ruling, focusing on Ripple's sales practices and executive involvement, not XRP's classification as a security.
• Ripple's Stuart Alderoty clarified that the appeal does not directly challenge the "not security" ruling.
• Ripple's cross-appeal and the SEC's remand request mean the case's resolution is unlikely before 2025.

Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty, recently posted on X his comments about the upcoming legal scuffle against the SEC.

On October 17, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an appeal against the 2023 ruling by New York Federal Judge Analisa Torres, in which she claimed XRP could not be classified as a security.

While many believed that the SEC’s appeal would directly challenge the ruling of XRP trades in exchanges should classify as security – the commission’s new jab at the crypto firm is focused elsewhere. While public sales of XRP were not classified as security by Judge Torres, she also ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million fine for violating security laws regarding XRP institutional sales.

Now, this new appeal focuses on Ripple’s sales practices and the involvement of CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen in the XRP sales. The SEC claims that Ripple violated Sections 5a and 5c of the Securities Act of 1933, citing that securities cannot be sold or even offered for sale to the public without an effective registration statement filed with the SEC.

In turn, Stuart Alderoty addressed the rumors that the SEC’s appeal could directly challenge the “not security” ruling. 

He also claimed that the best-case scenario for the commission would be a remand – meaning sending the case back to the lower court for reconsideration.

Ripple stated that the company will file a Form C cross-appeal, meaning that the resolution to this case is unlikely to come before 2025. 

XRP Gaining Momentum on Monday

The disclosure of the SEC’s intention regarding the appeal appears to have appeased the XRP market on this Monday, October 21st.

The currency started the day on a high – reaching a 4% increase in value during its peak at 10:00 AM (UTC). Since then the asset has retracted and is currently up by almost 2% over the past 24 hours.