SEC’s Ripple appeal doesn’t challenge XRP non-security status
2024-10-18

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest appeal in its case against Ripple doesn’t pose a challenge to the court’s ruling that XRP is not a security.
On Oct. 16, the SEC filed a Form C civil appeal with a pre-argument statement against certain aspects of the court’s summary judgment in favor of the defendants in its XRP XRPUSD rulings.
The appeal, shared by Ripple’s defense attorney James Filan on Oct. 17, asks the court to review its decisions regarding Ripple’s XRP sales on exchanges, as well as personal XRP sales by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen.
Court ruling on XRP’s status remains intact 
Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, commented on the SEC’s appeal on X, emphasizing that the SEC’s Form C doesn’t appeal on the ruling that XRP is not a security.
“That decision stands as the law of the land,” Alderoty stated, adding that Ripple is preparing to file its own Form C next week.
According to the filing, the SEC’s appeal addressed allegations against Garlinghouse and Larsen, arguing that the executives violated securities laws by offering and selling XRP and that they “aided and abetted Ripple’s violations of those provisions.”
The appeal questions the court’s decision to grant partial summary judgment in favor of the defendants, including XRP sales on exchanges, personal sales by Garlinghouse and Larsen, and Ripple’s XRP distributions in exchange for non-cash consideration. 
“These issues are to be reviewed de novo,” the SEC stated in the appeal.
SEC vs. Ripple case will go through July 2025
According to a rundown of the appeals timeline shared by Fox Business producer Eleanor Terrett, Ripple is expected to file its own Form C in seven days following the SEC’s filing.
“Both parties will then agree on a briefing schedule, and the SEC then has up to 90 days to file its first brief,” Terrett wrote, adding that Alderoty expects the process to take the full 90 days.
The briefing process will likely extend through July 2025, according to Alderoty. 
As Cointelegraph previously reported, Judge Analisa Torres of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled partially in favor of Ripple Labs in August 2023, deciding that XRP is not a security when sold programmatically on digital asset exchanges.
On Aug. 7, the court entered a final judgment enjoining Ripple from further violations of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 and imposing a $125 million civil penalty.