US SEC Officially Files Form C Appeal in Ripple Case Last Minute

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Sujha Sundararajan

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Last updated:

October 18, 2024 03:28 EDT

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed the Civil Appeal Pre-argument statement (Form C) in the Ripple lawsuit.

The filing is a last-minute appeal in the ongoing legal battle seeking to reverse U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres’ summary judgment in 2023.

Flagged by Fox Business Journalist Eleanor Terrett, the regulator has detailed “issues they plan to seek appeal for in the Ripple case.”

The issues include Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP on digital asset trading platforms. Additionally, the SEC appeal targets personal sales by Ripple executives Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen.

The SEC’s initial lawsuit accused Ripple executives of violating the Securities Act of 1933 by selling XRP without proper registration.

The Form C will also seek appeal for Ripple’s distribution of XRP to its employees and others.

“They are not appealing the monetary penalty of $125M or Judge Torres’s decision not to grant disgorgement,” Terrett wrote.

The SEC Likely Missed the Appeal Deadline

On Thursday, the crypto community speculated whether the regulator missed the filing deadline since the appellate timeline was October 16.

In an interview with Fox Business, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty set a timeline for the SEC’s appeal against the crypto payments giant.

Per Alderoty, the regulator has until October 17th to file a Form C. He added that this “will give some level of detail about what it plans to appeal.”

Pro-crypto lawyer James ‘MetaLawMan’ Murphy called the delay in appeal as “weird.”

“The SEC’s Form C is dated October 16. The court’s file stamp on the document is October 17,” said Murphy.

“We should find out soon whether the 2nd Circuit concludes that the SEC has missed the deadline.”

Terrett first wrote that it is hard to believe that the SEC would just let this important deadline sail by. However, in a follow-up post, she updated from the Ripple’s spokesperson,

“The appeal is proceeding normally, and the documents will be filed publicly soon.”

In July 2023, Ripple secured a partial victory after the court ruled that XRP sales on digital trading platforms are not considered securities. However, it determined that Ripple’s sales of XRP to institutional investors were unregistered securities.

On August 7, the Judge issued a final ruling, requiring Ripple to pay $125,035,150 in civil penalties for the breach.