Ripple is not planning to back down from the fight even as the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to appeal Judge Analisa Torres’ findings in July. Ripple president Monica Long asserted recently that the blockchain payments firm intends to continue its fight against the SEC’s lawsuit “all the way through”.
As per Long, the fact that the odds are currently in Ripple’s favor following the landmark ruling that XRP is not in itself a security raises hopes that a major victory is imminent.
Ripple Remains Committed To Its Fight Against SEC
It’s been roughly two months since a federal court made a verdict in the protracted legal war between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple.
The SEC sued Ripple and two of its top executives in December 2020, alleging they raised more than $1.3 billion by illegally selling XRP as an unregistered security. Both sides moved for summary judgment this year after discovery came to a close.
But U.S. District Judge Analisa Judge Torres ruled in July that the XRP token is not a security when sold to the general public via exchanges, but that millions worth of contracts for institutional sales did constitute unregistered securities sales. The July ruling was broadly interpreted as a milestone win for both Ripple and the crypto industry at large.
“We also got clarity in that lawsuit. And the judge’s order in that case said very clearly XRP in and of itself is not a security, which kind of opens the doors to us to really expand our business — not just in the U.S. but even more globally,” Ripple president Monica Long opined during a Monday interview with CNBC.
The SEC recently argued in a court filing that the summary judgment by Judge Torres raised “precisely the kinds of ‘knotty legal problems'” that merit interlocutory review by a federal appeals court.
Nonetheless, Long has asserted that Ripple is ready to fight SEC all the way despite potential appeal.
“We are planning to continue to fight the case all the way through,” Long asserted.
What It Really Means For XRP And Wider Crypto Industry
While the SEC will contest the XRP decision, the broader crypto community has embraced it, as crypto trades on exchanges might dodge the securities transaction tag. The partial legal victory could serve as a partial liberation, allowing Ripple to rekindle its former flame. This lawsuit offers a great opportunity for the firm to plot a new path, turning the page from an old chapter to usher in a new era.
Meanwhile, Ripple continues to develop bullish use cases for XRP and the XRP ledger in cross-border settlements. The San Francisco-based company has also teamed up with nation-states to pilot central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Whether these developments and Ripple’s grit amid SEC’s appeal might supercharge the XRP price to the elusive $1 milestone and beyond remains an open question.
