The filing of an appeal by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, will « only further » strengthen Judge Torres’ ruling that XRP is not a security.
Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, thinks the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will have to go through a protracted procedure before being able to challenge Judge Torres’ favorable decision in the lawsuit against Ripple.
In a lawsuit initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020, Judge Torres issued a partial judgement in favor of Ripple Labs on July 13 by declaring that the XRP XRP tickers down $0.72 token is not a security with relation to retail sales on digital asset exchanges.
Torres, on the other hand, found that XRP is a security when offered to institutional investors because it meets the standards outlined in the Howey Test.
In an interview with Bloomberg on July 15, Garlinghouse dismissed the institutional sales judgment as « the smallest piece » of the action, and believes that if the SEC files an appeal against the retail sales order, it will « only further » strengthen Judge Torres’ decision.
Garlinghouse expects it will be some time before the SEC can launch an appeal.
“As a matter of law, the law of the land right now is that XRP is not a security. Until there is an opportunity for the SEC to file an appeal, which would take years, frankly we are very optimistic.”
Garlinghouse stressed that this is the first « crypto case » that the SEC has lost. He denounced the SEC for being « a bully » and going after « weak players » in the cryptocurrency sector who couldn’t « mount a proper defense. »
Additionally, he pointed out that many crypto exchanges in the United States adopted the approach of waiting to « see what happens » when the action against Ripple was initially filed because of the lack of confidence.
The reason for this, in Garlinghouse’s words, is that the SEC « sowed confusion » in the market.
He claimed, “They knew there was confusion, and they actually did things that they knew would increase confusion”.
According to Garlinghouse, this « confusion » really gives the SEC « power » under the guise of being « powerful, » but it has stopped innovation in the United States.
He said, “The SEC has been trying to put power and politics over what is really just sound policy and providing clear rules of the road” and added that it has made it challenging for American businesspeople and investors to engage in the cryptocurrency market and blockchain technology.
