Ripple Chief Legal Officer Says Company Ready for Likely SEC Appeal

Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty highlights the company’s readiness in light of a probable SEC appeal.

Over the weekend, the SEC indicated it was considering an appeal in the Ripple case, according to a recent filing in the Terraform Labs/Do Kwon case.

30+ years as a lawyer, and crypto is, without a doubt, the most fascinating industry I’ve been a part of.

Thank you @jacqmelinek for having me on to discuss what the lawsuit decision means, where the SEC has jurisdiction (and more importantly where it doesn’t), and much more. https://t.co/lozorZeTyL

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) July 25, 2023

Speaking on a TechCrunch podcast, Alderoty says Ripple will not shy away from the SEC’s likely appeal. He voices the belief that the recent ruling was a faithful application of the law and that the judge got this right.

Alderoty continued by saying that a ruling from the court of appeals would not only affirm this but maybe even amplify it further. He added that the Ripple case could provide clarity for other pending lawsuits, and the recent decision may well suggest that the SEC is just misguided.

The ruling in the Ripple case concluded that while selling XRP to retail investors on exchanges did not violate the SEC’s guidelines, sales directly to institutional investors did. This was largely regarded as a triumph for the cryptocurrency industry.

Four potential options: Legal expert

As the debate on what is next in the Ripple-SEC lawsuit lingers, Legal expert “MetaLawMan” on Twitter hints at four potential options going forward.

The first option is that the SEC might file for an interlocutory appeal, given that the final ruling is yet to be made. Although there is no deadline for the initial request, it should be made quickly and, as a general rule, within 30 days. The SEC would then have 10 days to ask the 2nd Circuit if Judge Torres granted the request.

In this regard, he expects the SEC to file a request for interlocutory appeal within the next two weeks, as the likelihood of this option remains relatively high.

The second is that the SEC goes through with a trial on its claim against Ripple executives Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse and then files a regular appeal. The third option would be for the SEC to drop its claims against the Ripple executives and file an immediate appeal. The last option, which remains quite unlikely, is a settlement.

Whichever it may be, CryptoLaw founder John Deaton believes an appeal is not even close to being a setback, as it might take at least two years before such a decision is made.