There has been an ongoing debate in the XRP community as to the timeline within which the SEC could make an interlocutory appeal after Judge Torres' ruling.
This comes as, in the SEC v. Terraform Labs/Do Kwon case, the SEC claimed in a plea that it was considering an appeal of Judge Torres' ruling in the Ripple lawsuit.
While opinions remain divided as to what an appeal might imply for the Ripple ruling and its possible timeline, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal expressed his viewpoint on Twitter.
In Grewal's opinion, 10 court days from Judge Torres' ruling seems to him to be the right deadline to seek certification of an order for interlocutory appeal since it is the deadline to petition the appellate court.
Grewal added that "10 court days from Judge Torres’ ruling is tomorrow." If the date of his tweet is taken into context, this suggests July 25 might be the timeline to watch out for.
Fred Rispoli, an attorney who also participated in the Ripple lawsuit, shared his own opinion on Twitter regarding the 10-day timeline for a certification request.
Rispoli says that he cannot readily find a deadline for parties to ask the district court for certification as required by 28 U.S.C. 1292(b). This is similar to the opinion of Grewal, who also noted that 28 USC 1292(b) seems to be silent, implying that no specific deadline was mentioned, hence, in his own opinion, 10 days.
Rispoli explained that, based on his understanding, parties have 10 days to appeal after the district court certifies the request for appeal. He noted that the language in the statutes and rules requires an order, and the summary judgment ruling is not an order.
Appeal, not setback: John Deaton
As the debate on a possible appeal by the SEC lingers, CryptoLaw founder John Deaton believes an appeal from the SEC is not even close to being a setback. This is because it might take at least two years before a decision is issued by the 2nd Circuit if an appeal is filed.
In an earlier tweet, Fred Rispoli hinted at a likely time frame within which an appeal would be resolved. He claims that Rule 54(b) judgment is the quickest appeal method, but it is improbable that this remedy would be given. This process is expected to take 1.5 years.
The next fastest, according to Rispoli, is an interlocutory appeal, which may end up being decided in early 2025 if it is granted.
According to him, if the SEC files an appeal following the court's final ruling, the appeal may not be resolved until late 2025 or early 2026 because a trial may not be possible until early next year.