Prominent XRP advocate and lawyer John Deaton is confidently backing a Ripple victory against the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) appeal.
Deaton referenced a detailed thread that outlined the logical approach taken by Judge Analisa Torres in her ruling, which he sees as a sturdy basis for an unfavorable outcome for the SEC.
Deaton stated, “She took each type of sale chosen and defined by the SEC and applied the Howey test. I’m willing to bet significant funds she doesn’t get reversed on appeal.”
The thread, which was penned by Australian lawyer and digital asset enthusiast Bill Morgan, presents a compelling case. The SEC had categorized Ripple’s XRP sales into three distinct types, and Judge Torres decided to analyze each category separately. The judge found significant differences between the categories, particularly noting that institutional buyers signed contracts with Ripple, unlike buyers from programmatic sales.
The thread concluded by stating that investors had “different expectations in the very different set of facts in the different categories of Ripple sales and offers the SEC formulated.” Hence, the lawyer doesn’t see any error in the judge’s reasoning.
However, there are developments that might instigate some doubts in Deaton’s prediction. As reported by U.Today, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, overseeing the SEC case against Terraform Labs, rejected an approach used in Judge Torres’s ruling. This brings a level of unpredictability to the SEC’s upcoming appeal.
In the meantime, SEC Chair Gary Gensler recently suggested that an appeal against the Ripple case decision is under strong consideration. Gensler’s statement is not a guarantee of an appeal, but does indicate that the SEC has not conceded a partial defeat in the case.