SEC Appeals Ripple Judgment

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is appealing a prior ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concerning Ripple, a web3 payments firm, as detailed in a filing on Wednesday.

> “We believe that the district court decision in the Ripple matter conflicts with decades of Supreme Court precedent and securities laws and look forward to making our case to the Second Circuit,” said an SEC spokesperson to The Block.

Ripple's CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, responded on the social media platform X, stating, "Somehow, they still haven't gotten the message: they lost on everything that matters. Ripple, the crypto industry, and the rule of law have already prevailed. While we'll fight in court for as long as we need, let's be clear: XRP’s status as a non-security is the law of the land today — that does not change even in the face of this misguided — and infuriating — appeal."

A judge ordered Ripple to pay a civil penalty of $125 million on August 7, significantly less than the SEC's original request for $2 billion. This ruling partially granted and denied the SEC's initial motion for remedies concerning Ripple's sale of XRP.

On July 13, 2023, the same judge determined that while Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP did not violate securities laws, direct XRP sales to institutional investors were indeed considered securities, according to previous reports by The Block.

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in 2020, alleging that the company's sale of XRP constituted a violation of securities laws, claiming that XRP is an unregistered security and that Ripple raised over $1.3 billion through these unregistered sales.

Updated: Oct. 2 at 22:12 UTC to include commentary from Brad Garlinghouse and context from July 2023 Ripple verdict.