Attorneys representing Ripple filed a letter requesting to stay the monetary portion of Judge Analisa Torres’ Aug.7 final judgment ordering the San Francisco-based fintech firm to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) $125 million.
The SEC agreed to the request to delay payment of the judgment, and District Judge Torres has subsequently approved the Proposed Order. Overall, the filing suggests the regulator may choose to appeal the ruling in the lengthy XRP case.
XRP Lawsuit Heading Toward Appeal?
In the latest development in the Ripple vs SEC legal battle, Ripple’s legal team indicated that the SEC had consented to a request to delay payment of the $125 million fine after September 6. Ripple proposed the company puts 111% of the $125M (approximately $139 million) into an interest-bearing account managed by a law firm until “30 days after the time to appeal or the resolution of any appeal” has come to pass.
As per the filing, Ripple “shall retain beneficial ownership of the Fund and all accrued interest but shall have no control over the Fund.” If the SEC fails to appeal, the funds will be released from the account to the regulator upon the deadline passing.
Any appeal would mean that the XRP lawsuit was not yet over after being first filed by the SEC in late 2020. Ripple aims to acquire maximum interest from the SEC if the securities watchdog ends up appealing and losing the case.
District Judge Analisa Torres approved the request to put the funds into an escrow account to allow more time for either party to appeal the landmark ruling. It’s worth mentioning that under court guidelines, either side is allowed 60 days to file an appeal “if the United States or an officer or agency of the U.S. is a party.”
Appeal Ruling Unlikely Until 2026
Pro-XRP lawyer and founder of Hodl Law Fred Rispoli told his followers that there is no need to freak out over the SEC appeal likely by Oct.7. Rispoli suggested that even if the presiding judge grants the appeal, the ruling on the appeal would not come until 2026, thus lowering its immediate impact.
According to the attorney, the SEC filing lawsuits against digital asset exchanges and alleging several tokens are unregistered securities has weakened its case. Furthermore, he believes the regulator could withdraw its appeal at any time depending on who is chair. “If it’s Hester, I say 80% chance appeal would be dropped,” Rispoli added.
The popular lawyer further suggested that if Ripple or XRP fail to succeed now, it won’t be due to the possible SEC appeal, implying that other factors will play a key role in their trajectory in the near future.
It’s worth mentioning that Ripple’s Chief Legal officer previously asserted that the SEC has only a 10% chance of winning if it decided to go the appeal route.
