Ripple Case May End Without SEC Appeal, Ex-Official Suggests

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may opt not to appeal the summary judgment ruling from Judge Analisa Torres partially favoring Ripple Labs, signaling a strategic shift to avoid establishing a potentially unfavorable precedent in higher courts. This possibility has come to light as the crypto community awaits the court’s remedies phase ruling expected by […]

Jun 21, 2024 - 05:00

Ripple Case May End Without SEC Appeal, Ex-Official Suggests

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may opt not to appeal the summary judgment ruling from Judge Analisa Torres partially favoring Ripple Labs, signaling a strategic shift to avoid establishing a potentially unfavorable precedent in higher courts. This possibility has come to light as the crypto community awaits the court’s remedies phase ruling expected by the end of Summer 2024, after which the SEC’s window to appeal will open.

Why The SEC May Want To Avoid An Appeal Vs. Ripple

Kristina Littman, former head of the SEC’s Enforcement’s Cyber Unit, weighed in on the SEC’s potential course of action during a recent conference on digital assets. She speculated that given the mixed judicial opinions in similar cases, the SEC might choose 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.” Her observation points to the uncertainty and strategic calculations at play behind the scenes.

Further elaborating on the potential judicial conflict that complicates the appeal decision, Littman remarked, “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 really address the Ripple opinion as much but you know pretty explicitly adopts the Terra logic.”

She continued by highlighting the low chances for an appeal, “I think there’s some speculation that the SEC might just let the Ripple opinion stay there as a district court opinion and not risk you know elevating it to a circuit level where they could potentially elicit bad law when they have otherwise favorable rulings in the aftermath of the Ripple litigation.”