- Ripple has asked to submit its brief in the SEC appeal over XRP sales no later than April 2025.
- The SEC believes that, even after the partial legal victory that Ripple achieved in the case in 2023, XRP remains very much a security under the Howey Test.
- Ripple’s political influence and SEC recent changes in leadership may play a role in the case.
Ripple Labs has requested an extension of an additional sixty days to file the next legal brief in the case against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This comes at a time when the SEC is increasing efforts to appeal a 2023 court ruling that held that XRP retail sales were not securities. The SEC has not backed down on the decision stating that the sales of XRP are indeed securities under the Howey test.
SEC Challenges Court Ruling on XRP Sales
The SEC filed its opening appeal brief last week and again affirmed that all tokens offered and sold in the digital asset market, except for Bitcoin, are securities. Ripple’s legal team has opposed these claims by saying that the SEC has not shown that retail XRP buyers expected gains from Ripple’s business operations. Ripple’s request for an extension has been called by pro-crypto attorney Jeremy Hogan as typical saying that the SEC for instance once needed 90 days to prepare its initial brief.
New SEC Chairman Creates Speculation.
This legal approach of Ripple may also be informed by recent changes in the leadership of the SEC. Crypto advocate Mark Uyeda is the acting chairman, and he came in for Gary Gensler who has been an opponent of cryptocurrency. Another person who is for cryptocurrency, Paul Atkins, has been chosen for the post of the SEC chairman, whose appointment is pending before the Senate. It is expected that the new administration will make some improvements to the case, said Stuart Alderoty, the Chief Legal Officer at Ripple.
Making it even more interesting, the nonprofit organization Better Markets has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the SEC. The group said that the earlier court decision misrepresented the Howey Test and opened up a regulatory gap that would be detrimental to retail investors. Better Markets has accused Ripple of using aggressive marketing to associate XRP with the company’s performance in a bid to defraud buyers.
Ripple Expanding Its Political Relations: Questions Arise
The connections between Ripple and the Trump administration have also been in focus. According to sources, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Stuart Alderoty met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December. This meeting together with Ripple’s increased XRP holdings value of $125 billion since the re-election of the current US president, Donald Trump has raised eyebrows about the possibility of the two having close political ties that may be influencing the case.
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