Pro-XRP attorney Fred Rispoli, founder of HODL Law, continues to assess the likelihood of an SEC appeal as higher than the probability of the agency letting the case conclude without further action. Following the US District Court for the Southern District of New York’s final judgment on August 7, 2024, the SEC now has less than a week to decide whether to challenge the ruling regarding Ripple’s XRP token sales. The SEC only has until October 7 to appeal the final ruling in the Ripple case.
Will The XRP Lawsuit Go In Overtime?
Rispoli voiced his predictions this weekend on X, stating, “I’m 60/40 rn in favor of seeing an SEC notice of appeal but the stakes are really high for the SEC. Letting it slide (no appeal) means that ‘programmatic sales’ is a one-off loss that literally only applies to Ripple’s secondary sales and is a distinguishable SDNY loss for the SEC. Appealing and getting Ripple affirmed is a huge gift to all litigants in the 2nd Cir fighting the SEC (all of NY and SEC’s favorite) to argue all secondary sales are not investment contracts.”
The dialogue among XRP supporters and legal analysts continued on X. Anders, a user identified as @X__Anderson, questioned whether it would be more strategic for the SEC to focus on other cases with a stronger likelihood of impacting the crypto industry broadly.
In response, Rispoli agreed with another prominent XRP supporter, John Deaton, saying, “The reality of SEC’s chances of winning on an appeal though mainly come down to the three randomly selected justices that would hear it. If SEC drew 3 SEC-biased judges (rare but possible), it could win.”
Further commentary from another user, Wides (@Wides71), suggested that the decision-making process might reflect deeper biases, to which Rispoli replied, “It’s both. Judicial bias makes its way into the legal reasoning. It has, unfortunately, gotten worse (and more blatant) in the last 15 years IMO. Parts of the US are still pretty great but a lot of other places are catching up fast.”
Rispoli’s latest assessment of the appeal likelihood comes after FOX Business journalist Eleanor Terrett relayed insights from a former SEC lawyer who indicated a probable appeal from the agency. According to the lawyer, there is a strong belief within the SEC that the court’s decision was fundamentally flawed and should be contested, as Bitcoinist reported.
Jeremy Hogan, another pro-XRP lawyer, criticized the SEC’s approach, emphasizing that the agency should prioritize investor protection and capital formation. “Of COURSE they think the opinion is wrong – they were on the losing side. What the SEC SHOULD be thinking of right now is whether an appeal furthers its mandate of investor protection and capital formation. Why isn’t that top of mind? More evidence the SEC has lost the plot.”
At press time, XRP traded at $0.65.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
