The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has submitted its opening brief to challenge a court decision favoring Ripple.

In its Jan. 15 filing, the SEC claims that Ripple’s XRP sales to retail buyers should be classified as unregistered securities transactions.

According to the SEC:

“The district court erred both factually and legally in concluding that defendants’ offers and sales of XRP to public buyers who purchased on crypto asset trading platforms—including retail investors—and Ripple’s offers and sales of XRP for which Ripple received non-cash consideration were not offers and sales of investment contracts.”

The financial regulator also argued that Ripple’s activities fostered profit expectations among buyers, satisfying the criteria for an investment contract under the Howey Test.

Considering this, the financial regulator requested that the Appeals Court vacate the lower court’s erroneous ruling.

The SEC’s appeal follows its partial defeat in July 2023 when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that only XRP sales to institutional investors qualified as securities. The court concluded that sales to retail investors did not violate US federal securities laws, prompting the SEC to seek a reversal of this outcome.

The case began in December 2020 and ended with Ripple fined $125 million in August 2024. However, the SEC’s appeal has added further complexities to the ongoing legal battle.

Ripple’s response

Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, has dismissed the SEC’s appeal as a repetition of arguments that have already failed in court.

Alderoty emphasized that Ripple remains resilient, viewing the SEC’s actions as an obstacle to broader regulatory clarity. He stated that the company would respond formally to the brief while continuing to focus on growth in a changing regulatory environment.

He added:

“The SEC’s lawsuit is just noise. A new era of pro-innovation regulation is coming, and Ripple is thriving.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also echoed this sentiment, saying:

“[The SEC’s brief is] one definition of insanity…. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Gensler’s SEC really took this to heart.”

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