In the face of rising whispers that an upcoming appeal from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might throw a wet blanket on the crypto market, XRP champion and lawyer John Deaton isn’t losing sleep. He’s standing firm, assuring that even if the SEC tries to kick up a fuss with an appeal, it won’t ruffle the feathers of XRP holders who are currently sitting pretty with their tokens valued at $0.72 each.
The gavel has spoken, ruling that the selling of XRP tokens via exchanges isn’t the same as peddling securities. Now, all eyes are on what might unfold if the SEC decides to wrangle with this decision. Deaton, the legal eagle fighting the corner for a whopping 75,000 XRP token holders, laid out the possible twists and turns of this legal labyrinth.
On July 21, the SEC threw its hat into the ring, planning to question the judgment made in the Ripple lawsuit during its case against Do Kwon, the CEO of Terraform Labs. This turn of events came after Kwon decided to ride on the coattails of the XRP lawsuit verdict, arguing that digital assets shouldn’t be pigeonholed as securities.
According to Deaton, the appeal saga could stretch over two years, but in the meantime, the initial ruling will still be the law of the land. As for when the SEC will roll up its sleeves and jump into the appeal process, well, that’s anyone’s guess.
“An appeal isn’t even a bump in the road. Don’t let anyone tell you that this victory for XRP, its holders, and Ripple, is anything less than monumental.”
Meanwhile, Stuart Alderoty, the chief legal officer at Ripple, chimed in on the ongoing debate about whether the SEC has any say over tokens. He stated loud and clear in a tweet that the SEC’s powers only extend to securities. So, if a token isn’t a security, the SEC shouldn’t have its fingers in that pie. Any attempts to claim jurisdiction where there is none, he suggests, is just a political power play. That sort of overreach doesn’t do anyone any good, and could in fact do some serious harm.
In a ruling that hit the news on July 13, Judge Analisa Torres made it clear that XRP tokens don’t count as securities when they’re sold on retail digital asset exchanges. But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for Ripple, as they were found to have crossed the line of securities laws when they sold XRP to hedge funds and other big institutional buyers.