SEC Appeal in Ripple Case Could Be a Bad Move, Says Attorney

The latest development in the ongoing 4-year case between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple is an appeal from the SEC on a past ruling.

They want to appeal Judge Torres’ decision to classify XRP not as a security when sold on the secondary market. If they appeal, they would receive a larger fine from Ripple, because it would mean that more laws have been violated.

Already, the judge has determined that Ripple should pay the SEC $125 million for their current violations. That result would be a reduction of 94% from what the SEC had originally wanted to fine the firm. Initially, the fines would have come up to about $2 billion. The SEC was not happy with that ruling and has decided to appeal.

When the appeal was filed, the price of XRP fell dramatically. XRP is Ripple’s proprietary coin, and if the appeal is approved, then the value of XRP will drop.

The Mistake

Over on social media platform X, attorney Jeremy Hogan said that the move was a mistake on the SEC’s part. He said they will not protect anyone with this appeal, even though they could get a lot more money out of Ripple.

The SEC is also receiving substantial negative feedback for the public, particularly from cryptocurrency enthusiasts. The XRP Army, which is a group that supports XRP and trades in it, said that the appeal was just a way to drag out the already lengthy court case.

If either side had given in by now, the case would have been resolved, but there has been one retaliatory move after another, and often what one side proposes does not please the other side. They are locked in a war of attrition that could continue for even longer now that the appeal has been filed. It will be up to Judge Torres to decide if the appeal has merit and should be considered.