Amid speculations that a potential appeal by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could negatively impact the crypto market, Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton has made it clear that even in the event of an appeal by the agency, it would not significantly affect XRP (XRP) holders.
After the judge’s ruling that the programmatic sale of XRP tokens through exchanges does not classify them as securities, a new question emerges regarding the potential legal implications if the SEC decides to appeal against the ruling. Deaton, who represents more than 75,000 XRP tokenholders, elaborated on the possible scenarios and intricacies of enforcing the summary judgment.
On July 21, the SEC stated in its filing regarding the case against Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon that it plans to request a review of the decision made in the Ripple lawsuit. This decision came after Kwon expressed his intention to utilize the XRP lawsuit verdict as a precedent to argue that digital assets should not be classified as securities.
An appeal is not even close to be a setback. First, it will be two years from now before a decision is issued by the 2nd Circuit, if it’s appealed. The Torres Decision is the law until then – at least in the 2nd Circuit. Second, even if the 2nd Circuit said Torres was wrong… https://t.co/GzW31D9edQ
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) July 22, 2023
Deaton’s explanation suggests that the appeal decision could extend over two years, during which the summary judgment will remain the governing law. It remains uncertain when the SEC will initiate the appeal process in response to the ruling.
“An appeal is not even close to be a setback. Don’t let anyone underestimate how significant this win is for XRP and XRPHolders and Ripple.”
In response to the ongoing discussion about the SEC’s authority over tokens, Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer at Ripple, tweeted that the agency’s jurisdiction is limited to securities. He said if a token isn’t classified as a security, then the SEC should not have a role in its regulation. Claiming jurisdiction where none exists is merely a political power move, which ultimately benefits no one and harms everyone involved.
A securities agency only has jurisdiction over securities. No security, no role for the SEC.
Pretending to have jurisdiction when there is none, is simply a political power play. It helps no one; it hurts everyone. https://t.co/OhNSaDuJ26
— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) July 22, 2023
Related: Terra interim CEO says any ‘little progress’ made gets derailed by accusations
Judge Analisa Torres’ July 13 ruling stated that XRP tokens are not securities when sold on retail digital asset exchanges. However, the decision was not entirely in the company’s favor because Ripple was found to have broken the securities laws when it offered XRP to hedge funds and other institutional buyers.
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