Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will face a prolonged process before having the chance to appeal Judge’s Torres favorable ruling in the case against Ripple.
On July 13, Judge Torres ruled partially in favor of Ripple Labs in a case brought forth by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020, ruling that the XRP (XRP) token is not a security regarding retail sales on digital asset exchanges.
However, Torres ruled that XRP is a security when sold to institutional investors, as it met the conditions set in the Howey Test.
In an interview with Bloomberg on July 15, Garlinghouse dismissed the institutional sales decision as "the smallest piece" of the lawsuit, and believes if the SEC were to file an appeal against the retail sales ruling, it would “only further” solidify the decision that Judge Torres made.
Garlinghouse believes that it could be a while before the SEC can file an appeal.
Garlinghouse emphasized that this is the first time the SEC has lost a "crypto case." He called out the SEC for being "a bully” and going after “weak players” in the crypto industry who weren’t able to “mount a proper defense.”
He also noted that when the case against Ripple was first filed, a lot of the crypto exchanges in the U.S. had the attitude of waiting to “see what happens,” due to uncertainty.
Related: XRP ruling a ‘watershed moment,’ but we’re not out of the woods yet — Lawyers
This is because the SEC “sowed confusion" in the market, according to Garlinghouse.
“They knew there was confusion, and they actually did things that they knew would increase confusion” he stated.
We said in Dec 2020 that we were on the right side of the law, and will be on the right side
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