Ripple has filed a motion asking the court to deny the SEC’s certification request for an immediate appeal against a recent court ruling against the regulator in its case against the company.
The court ruled in July that the automated open market sale of Ripple’s cryptocurrency XRP to the general public did not constitute a sale of securities because it failed to meet all four points of the Howey Test — the standard used to judge whether an asset should be classified as a security. .
Ripple’s legal team argued in the filing that the court should deny the SEC’s certification request because it does not meet the exceptional requirements needed to obtain approval for a preliminary injunction.
To approve the appeal, the SEC must prove that another judge would disagree with the ruling and/or that the appeal would expedite the case so that a conclusion can be reached sooner. However, the lawyers argue that the SEC has failed to prove that several judges could disagree with the ruling.
In addition, the legal team further argued that the SEC has “admitted” that the case needs “lengthy litigation” regardless of the outcome of the appeal, and that granting the certification request would not expedite the case.
The lawyers wrote in the file:
“First, the Court’s summary judgment does not present a controlling point of law suitable for summary judgment. Second, the alleged substantive cause of contention is merely the SEC’s dissatisfaction with the Court’s application of the Howey test to most of the Defendants’ transactions in XRP.”
Ripple and the SEC have been embroiled in a legal battle for several years, with the July ruling raising expectations of a favorable outcome for Ripple and much-needed regulatory clarity for the crypto industry.
The case is now expected to go to a full jury trial in the second quarter of 2024.
The final court decision in Ripple’s case will impact the entire crypto space as it will set a precedent for what can and cannot be considered a security under current US law.
The report that Ripple is filing a motion to block the SEC’s objection attempt first appeared on CryptoSlate.
