The US Securities and Exchange Commission has just days to appeal the much-talked-about Ripple ruling that recognized secondary XRP sales as non-securities. The deadline is set for Oct. 7.
A former SEC lawyer reportedly expects the agency to challenge the ruling.
Marc Powers, a former enforcement attorney at the SEC, also believes that the SEC will end up appealing the decision.
The ruling by Judge Analisa Torres was hailed as a massive victory by Ripple since it provided the XRP token with some semblance of legal clarity.
Alex DovbnyaHowever, Torres's approach, which distinguishes between institutional and programmatic token sales, has not picked up any significant traction. For instance, it was rejected by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in the Ripple case. Powers believes that the SEC will appeal the ruling to clear up the inconsistencies.
Former SEC Division Chief Kristina Littman recently opined that the agency might refrain from appealing the case because it might not want to potentially elevate this district court opinion.
In an August interview, Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's top legal mind, did not rule out an SEC appeal, but he believes that it will not affect the legal status of the XRP token.
The agency has repeatedly faced scathing criticism for refusing to provide the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry with clear rules. However, the SEC insists that the existing securities laws are sufficient, and crypto industry players must obey them.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler recently predicted that the field was "not going to persist" without regulation.
Apart from Ripple, the SEC is also engaged in regulatory battles with various other cryptocurrency companies.
Yuri Molchan
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin