Judge Analisa Torres, who announced a partial summary judgment in favor of Ripple in the SEC-Ripple case in July 2023, has rejected the SEC’s request to file a temporary appeal. The ruling emphasized the findings in the previous decision that individual investors in XRP did not expect profits from Ripple.
SEC’s Appeal Rejected
Judge Analisa Torres, presiding over the SEC-Ripple case, rejected the appeal request from the US federal regulatory agency. Judge Torres stated that the SEC failed to sufficiently demonstrate that the temporary appeal could continue the case. She highlighted that the essence of the SEC’s argument was about how the court wrongly applied the Howey test to undisputed facts, but emphasized that the Howey test should only be applied to the specific facts and circumstances.
Judge Torres also supported the argument that the Howey test issue did not arise in this case. Referring to a case from 2009, she stated that the conditions surrounding the Howey test did not make it suitable for evaluating the appeal request.
Furthermore, the court categorically listed various reasons why Ripple’s programmatic sales could not reasonably lead investors to expect profits as a fundamental condition under the Howey test. Among these reasons was the fact that Ripple did not know who purchased XRP, so no promises or offers were made to programmatic buyers. Another reason mentioned was that many programmatic buyers were completely unaware of Ripple’s existence.
Impact on Other Altcoins
Moreover, Judge Torres opposed the SEC’s argument that the approved issues had precedent value for numerous other cases. She noted that the ruling did not refer to other altcoins or different companies in various other cases.
Attorney John Deaton, representing thousands of XRP investors in the case, reiterated his findings that the court’s decision was based solely on the conditions surrounding the Ripple case. Deaton explained that the SEC failed to prove how Ripple attempted to create price speculation among buyers.
Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty commented that Judge Torres’ summary judgment on July 13, 2023, continues to be the country’s law for the cryptocurrency market. In the July 13 ruling, the judge declared that XRP’s programmatic sales to individual buyers were not securities, granting Ripple a partial victory.
