Ripple Labs has filed a notice of cross-appeal in its ongoing court battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Ripple Labs made this plan public on October 10 and plans to take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The filing is an official step to make sure that Ripple’s points will be heard along with the SEC’s earlier entry in October.
The SEC accused Ripple of selling unregistered securities when it sold its cryptocurrency, XRP, in 2020. This is when the court fight started. An important decision was made by a federal judge in July 2023. He said that Ripple’s sales of XRP to institutions broke securities laws, but that sales to the public and to workers were not securities.
The SEC then told Ripple to pay a civil penalty of $125 million, which was a lot less than the almost $2 billion they had asked for. Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, said that the SEC lost on important issues, which is why the appeal was made. Stuart Alderoty said that Ripple’s cross-appeal aims to fully look at all points, especially those that have to do with how investment contracts work.
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, was sure that the company’s case would win in court and that it would end the SEC’s way of regulating, which he calls “regulation by enforcement.” He said that the SEC was making things more confusing instead of clearer in the business. He also said that Ripple was committed to leading the way for better rules.
Both Ripple and the SEC plan to make more points in the coming weeks as their cases are combined into one case. It’s still not clear when these changes will happen, but Ripple wants to fight any possible fines and make its case for how XRP fits in the world of digital assets stronger.
