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- The Ripple vs SEC lawsuit appears to be approaching a potential resolution as reports suggest the SEC may not appeal Judge Analisa Torres’ recent partial judgment favoring Ripple Labs.
- This strategic move by the SEC aims to prevent further escalation of the case in higher courts, signaling a significant shift in legal strategy.
The latest development in the market suggests that the long-going Ripple vs SEC lawsuit might be nearing its end soon. One recent report suggests that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might not appeal the recent summary judgment of Judge Analisa Torres that partially favors Ripple Labs. This hints at a major strategic shift with the SEC likely trying to avoid any further escalation of the case in the higher court.
This scenario has surfaced as the crypto community anticipates the court’s ruling on the remedies phase, scheduled by the end of Summer 2024, after which the SEC may initiate an appeal process, per the Crypto News Flash report.
During a recent conference on digital assets, Kristina Littman, former head of the SEC’s Enforcement’s Cyber Unit, recently shared her insights on the SEC’s potential actions going further. She also speculated that considering other judicial opinions in similar cases, the SEC would be willing to accept the District Court’s decision. She noted:
I’ll say on the Ripple appeal point, I’ll be curious to see whether the parties appeal there.
Littman also stressed a possible judicial conflict that would complicate the appeal decision. “I think there’s some speculation that because Judge Rakoff and the Terra opinion explicitly disagreed with Judge Torres’ logic from the Ripple opinion, and then Coinbase doesn’t address the Ripple opinion as much but you know pretty explicitly adopts the Terra logic,” said Littman.
Did Kristina Littman of the #SEC just confirm that the #SEC is NOT appealing the #Ripple case? 👀👀👀
We know how these speculations have gone, she knows! pic.twitter.com/ilzqC74Ho3
— wEeZiE {X}💭John Deaton 4 Senate (@NerdNationUnbox) June 19, 2024
Ripple Registers another Micro Win, XRP’s Security Status Remains Unclear
The legal battle between Ripple and the SEC intensified recently. In a significant update, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed several key claims in a class action lawsuit against Ripple, marking a procedural win for the company.
Judge Phyllis Hamilton granted Ripple’s motion for summary judgment on federal class claims related to unregistered securities and state law securities claims, effectively removing a substantial portion of the class action allegations against Ripple. Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, expressed contentment with the court’s decision.
Despite these dismissals, the court did not address whether XRP qualifies as a security, leaving this pivotal question to be determined by a jury using the Howey Test criteria.
Separately, in a civil securities lawsuit against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, a California judge has ruled that Garlinghouse will face trial over allegations of making misleading statements in 2017 regarding XRP sales, per the Crypto News Flash report.
California District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton’s June 20 ruling sets the stage for a jury to determine whether Brad Garlinghouse misled investors during a 2017 interview on Canada’s BNN Bloomberg, where he expressed strong confidence in XRP despite allegedly selling millions of XRP tokens throughout that year.
Amid the broader market sell-off Ripple’s native crypto XRP continues to trade under pressure. As of press time, the XRP price is trading at 1.12% down at $0.48 with a market cap of 27.3 billion.
