Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse has pledged to continue battling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in court following the regulator’s announcement of its intent to appeal a district court ruling in favor of the crypto company.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) dated October 2, Garlinghouse expressed his frustration, stating, “Somehow, they still haven’t gotten the message: they lost on everything that matters.” He emphasized that Ripple is prepared to contest the appeal in court for as long as necessary. “XRP’s status as a non-security is the law of the land today,” he declared, dismissing the SEC’s decision as “misguided and infuriating.”
This follows a landmark ruling in July last year by New York District Court Judge Analisa Torres, who determined that Ripple’s XRP token was not a security when sold on public crypto exchanges. This decision ended the SEC’s 2020 lawsuit, which had accused Ripple of selling unregistered securities via XRP.
However, Judge Torres granted the SEC a partial victory, ruling that Ripple’s XRP sales to institutional investors should have been registered as securities. Ripple was fined $125 million for these institutional sales, though in a subsequent development last month, Ripple and the SEC agreed to stay the fine as the SEC hinted at an appeal.
Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, expressed disappointment with the SEC’s decision to appeal, noting, “It’s disappointing, but not surprising.” He added that Ripple is evaluating whether to file a cross-appeal to further challenge the SEC’s stance.
