SEC appeal would not be a setback for Ripple

SEC filed documents signaling the intention to appeal the recent ruling in its case against Ripple.
Crypto Law founder John Deaton says the Judge’s decision will remain the law till the appeal is heard and determined.
XRP price retreated following the news, though the declines were widely spread across the market.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) signaled in documents filed on Friday that it would be appealing the court’s decision regarding XRP.

But while a former SEC official noted this could likely be bad news for Ripple, a pro-XRP lawyer has opined that this won’t be the case – “not even close” – he noted.

Judge Torres’ decision ‘law’ for now

SEC’s hint of an appeal against Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling was revealed in documents related to the agency’s case against Terraform Labs and its former CEO Do Kwon. The regulator faulted the judge’s decision and pointed towards a possible appeal.

In a tweeted response to a suggestion that Ripple could suffer a setback, Crypto Law founder John Deaton said:

“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 regarding her application of the 3rd Howey factor (which I predict they won’t), that doesn’t mean the SEC wins on Programmatic sales (sales on exchanges).”

According to Deaton, Judge Torres could “still rule the same exact way” if the SEC appealed the case.

“Let me be more precise: I’m not suggesting that Judge Torres’ decision is binding within the SDNY. A fellow District Judge could disagree with her. But I think a fellow judge in the 2nd Circuit is going to be hard pressed to disagree with Judge Torres, especially considering she cited Judge Castel from Telegram. After reading the Coinbase transcript, we can see it’s already playing out that way,” he explained.