Ripple Retort: Legal Team Opposes SEC Request for Ruling Appeal

Ripple Labs has responded to the Security and Exchange Commission’s filing of an interlocutory review of the court ruling in July. The legal team claims that no “extraordinary circumstance” exists to warrant an appeal. 

On Aug. 16, Ripple lawyers sent a letter to US District Court Judge Analisa Torres opposing the regulator’s attempts to appeal her ruling. 

Ripple Refutes SEC Review 

Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty said: 

“There is no extraordinary circumstance here that would justify departing from the rule requiring all issues as to all parties to be resolved before an appeal.”

An interlocutory appeal occurs when a ruling by a trial court is appealed while other aspects of the case are still proceeding. Moreover, they are only permitted under specific circumstances, which are laid down by federal and state courts.

On Aug. 9, the SEC sent a letter to Judge Torres claiming an “Interlocutory review is warranted here.”

It requested the judge put the case on hold during the appeal. The reasons it gave were that multiple other pending court cases that could be affected depending on the appeal’s outcome.

On July 13, the court ruled that XRP was not a security when sold to the public on an exchange but was a security contract when sold to institutional investors.

Ripple Heads Fire Back 

On Aug. 17, Ripple CEO Brad Garlighouse said the request for appeal (even if granted) doesn’t change the fact that XRP is not a security. 

“That’s not up for debate/trial. But the SEC continues to claim that Chris [Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen] and I acted recklessly in believing that XRP is not a security. That’s utter nonsense.”

“We look forward to proving the SEC wrong as a matter of fact and law (again),” he added. 

The SEC also named Garlinghouse and Larsen in the lawsuit against Ripple.

Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal said the move was “powerful.” “Especially in highlighting the hypocrisy of claiming a controlling issue of law, when they told the Court precisely the opposite, repeatedly,” he added. 

The cross-border payments token has taken a 2.7% hit on the day, in line with the broader crypto market retreat. As a result, XRP had fallen to $0.59 at the time of writing, having lost 30% since the partial court victory in mid-July. 

Furthermore, XRP has lost 20% over the past month and remains down 82.6% from its January 2018 peak of $3.40.