• Ripple and the US SEC are all geared up for the courtroom showcase in ongoing lawsuit.
• The bottomline of the legal brawl is the status of the XRP token.

Blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs is gearing up for the second round of its legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The broader cryptocurrency industry is also looking forward to the outcomes of the high-profile case which has been on for close to three years. This anticipation started building after the regulator decided that Judge Analisa Torres’ July 13th ruling which says that XRP is not a security when traded on secondary marketplaces, needed to be re-examined by an appellate court. 

The SEC filed a request for interlocutory appeal and the judge granted the request even though Ripple argued that it was not necessary. Precisely, the payment company opposed the SEC’s attempt to fast-track the appeal process. Also, Ripple highlighted that the Court’s decision is governed by a predominant legal question and that the SEC failed to demonstrate a considerable ground for a difference in opinion.

However, it was further clarified that the US District Court for the Southern District of New York was only granting a motion for appeal and not allowing an appeal itself. 

Many analysts and members of the pro-crypto legal community viewed Judge Torres’ move as a way to further elucidate her stance on the case. Usually, an interlocutory appeal arises when a ruling made by a trial court is contested while other aspects of the case are ongoing. 

These appeals are typically permitted only in exceptional or specific situations.

Ripple and SEC Getting Ready For Trial

Meanwhile, Ripple and the SEC have shared their calendar with the court in a letter to show their availability for a trial in the second quarter of 2024. Ripple’s calendar was quite flexible and showed that the payment firm was ready for a trial anytime. They only stated their unavailability from April 1 to April 14, 2024. On the other hand, the regulator showed that 19 days over the quarter have been blocked out and this represents 21 percent of the period. 

“The Commission is available for trial during the months of April, May, and June 2024, with the exceptions of April 15 through to April 19, May 1 through May 7, and May 27 through May 31,” the Commission’s letter to the court stated. Bearing this in mind, it is believed that the trial may commence on April 20th. 

With everything set for a trial, the crypto community is anticipating the outcome. CryptoLaw founder John E. Deaton believes that the court will reject the motion put forward by the regulator and if this is the case, the SEC will be mandated to wait till the end of next year before filing a full appeal in the Second Circuit.

The recent Grayscale victory against the SEC over its Bitcoin (BTC) Trust conversion to a full-fledged Bitcoin ETF has also boosted the crypto community’s confidence in Ripple’s potential win.