Ripple’s legal officer is confident about SEC appeal

Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, is maintaining confidence despite potential appeals from the United States Securities  and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the landmark Ripple ruling earlier this month. Alderoty believes that if the SEC does appeal, the court might further consolidate Ripple Labs’ partial victory over the financial regulator.

During a TechCrunch podcast on July 26, Alderoty reaffirmed that the XRP token does not qualify as an investment contract, and Ripple’s team is prepared to face any appeal brought by the SEC. He expressed security in the judge’s ruling, stating that it applied the law accurately, and believes that a court of appeals might not only affirm it but even strengthen it.

The July 13 ruling by Judge Analisa Torres stated that XRP was not a security when sold to the public on crypto exchanges but could be considered a security when sold to institutional investors.

Following the ruling, the SEC voiced dissatisfaction with the decision and hinted at the possibility of appealing the split-decision ruling in the future during its ongoing case against Terraform Labs founder, Do Kwon. The SEC argued that retail sales of XRP should have been classified as securities.

Alderoty predicted that if the SEC continues to claim that crypto assets are securities, it may face challenges in ongoing cases where such claims are made, citing their successful case and decision rendered by Judge Torres.

However, despite the favourable ruling, Alderoty cautioned that the crypto sector still lacks a solid regulatory foundation in the U.S. He criticised the SEC’s regulation by enforcement approach, stating that it has put the US behind other jurisdictions in terms of crypto laws. He emphasised the need for a rational, comprehensive, and understandable regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in the country.

At the time of writing, XRP is trading at around $0.70, reflecting a nearly 43% increase in the last month.Despite the positive developments in the court case, the future of crypto regulation in the U.S. remains uncertain, with implications for the broader cryptocurrency industry.