As the cryptocurrency community continues to celebrate the favorable ruling in the lawsuit that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had filed against blockchain company Ripple, many are wondering whether the regulator would appeal the court’s decision.
To address these concerns, legal expert Jeremy Hogan has shared his own two cents, arguing that, even though most attorneys think the SEC will appeal after the trial and final judgment, his belief is that neither side will do so, as he explained in a Twitter thread posted on July 17.
Why no appeal
Specifically, as Hogan states, “appeals are difficult to win as it’s Judge Torres who reviewed the WHOLE record.” Secondly, he argued that the SEC had more to lose than gain by appealing her decision:
“If it wins the appeal, it pulls back some adverse trial-level case. But if it LOSES at the appellate level, now every Court in the 2nd [District Court of Appeal (DCA)] MUST follow the decision. They could literally turn a mole-hill into a mountain.”
In terms of the possibility of Ripple appealing, the lawyer believes that it would not happen “IF it can pay the fine and IF the [on-demand liquidity (ODL)] part of the ruling doesn’t mess up its business. Which factors all point toward ‘no appeal’ for me,” he said.
Not all agree
At the same time, former SEC attorney John Reed Stark has warned against premature celebration in the cryptocurrency sector, arguing that “the decision resides on shaky ground, and is likely (and ripe) for appeal, will likely result in reversal,” as Finbold reported on July 16.
As a reminder, in a monumental decision for the crypto industry, Judge Analisa Torres has concluded the long-running, widely publicized lawsuit by ruling that XRP, the token at the center of the lawsuit, was not a security and, as such, not subject to securities laws or the SEC’s jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, the XRP token was at press time changing hands at the price of $0.75, recording an increase of 4.77% in the last 24 hours, adding up to the whopping gain of 60.22% in the previous seven days and a 55.42% advance on its monthly chart.
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