SEC Won't Postpone Ripple Lawsuit Appeal Until After Gensler's Departure

Party leadership at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to change on Jan. 20, but that won't change the regulotor's plans to move forward with its enforcement cases.

Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty tweeted on Jan. 14 that the SEC has refused to postpone the hearing on its appeal to a favorable sentence.

Despite the saber rattling from the SEC, investors in Ripple-linked XRP have been undeterred. The XRP price has been on a tear and surged to $2.99 (or above $3.00, according to Coinbase). The price has gained 15.8% since this time yesterday, according to CoinGecko data.

The regulator filed its appeal in mid-October 2024 after a July 2023 ruling partially favored Ripple by concluding that the company’s sales of XRP to retail investors on digital asset platforms did not violate U.S. securities laws.

But it's not been all smooth sailing for Ripple Labs the courts. In August 2024, a judge found Ripple liable for $125 million, declaring that the firm violated securities regulations while raising funds. The civil case was first filed at the end of 2020, under former SEC chairman Jay Clayton.

Judge Rules Ripple Sales of XRP Were Not Securities—Except to Institutions

The federal judge presiding over Ripple Lab's case against the Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled that the XRP token "is not necessarily a security on its face"—except when it was sold to raise funds from institutions. Federal district judge Analisa Torres ruled that programmatic sales to public buyers and distributions of XRP to Ripple Labs employees did not constitute the sale of unregistered securities. The court did not address secondary market sales of XRP on cryptocurrency exchan...

Alderoty criticized the use of taxpayer dollars but expressed confidence in Ripple’s position. He voiced concern over a waste of resources since he believes that changes in SEC leadership coming with the Trump administration will nullify the legal battle anyway.

Ripple’s chief legal officer wrote that when the new administration takes hold on Jan. 20, the “war on crypto ends at the SEC.” He described the refusal to postpone the appeal hearing as “a waste of time and taxpayer dollars.”

CEO Brad Garlinghouse voiced a similar stance in a tweet of his own. He described the decision as “very much on brand” for the SEC’s current Chairman Gary Gensler. According to him, he is “completely dismissive of the 2024 election and the American public” and committed “to his failed ‘regulation-by-enforcement agenda.”

Ripple was proactive in changing the anti-crypto political climate. In 2024, it contributed $25 million to the Fairshake PAC for “pro-crypto” candidates three times.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.