 Ripple seeks deadline for cross-appeal brief in SEC case 
2025-01-25
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Ripple Labs has formally requested an April 16 deadline for its cross-appeal brief in its ongoing legal dispute with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The move is considered standard procedure.
In a Jan. 23 request, Michael Kellogg, a member of Ripple’s legal team, cited the crypto company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder, Chris Larsen, as joining “in this request.”
A brief deadline is the date by which a party must file a written legal argument with the court. Often, a brief is needed within a certain amount of time after the appealing party files its opening brief. The amount of time, including a possible deadline extension, depends on the rules of the specific court handling the appeal.
The development follows a Jan. 15 filing from the SEC, in which the commission argued that the New York District Court was wrong to rule that XRP XRPUSD sold to retail investors were not considered securities. The SEC also said in that filing that XRP given as employee compensation and in business details was wrongly excluded from being a security. The New York District Court’s 2023 ruling was considered a partial victory for Ripple at the time.
Judge Torres later ordered the company to pay more than $125 million to the SEC for violating securities laws, considering that Ripple also offered XRP as part of institutional sales.
Related: XRP hits 7-year high as optimism outweighs SEC appeal concerns
Will the SEC drop the case?
Ripple’s request has once again turned the spotlight on this ongoing and critical crypto court case. However, some expected the SEC to withdraw the case. Jeremy Hogan, partner at Hogan & Hogan, said on X: 
“This is very standard. The SEC also had 90 days to draft its initial brief. The only question here is — will the brief need to be filed at all??”
Many in the XRP Army are wondering the same. Since Jan. 20, the SEC has been headed by crypto-friendly acting Chair Mark Uyeda, appointed by President Donald Trump. The agency is reportedly considering dropping certain crypto enforcement cases.
President Trump’s second term has seen his administration embrace the digital assets space. The president has followed through on his campaign promise to pardon Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, announced a working group to explore a US crypto reserve, and appointed David Sacks as the White House’s AI and crypto czar.
The SEC initially filed its lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020, alleging that the company had violated securities laws with the sale of its XRP cryptocurrency. The legal battle has been raging to this day.
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