SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, the last of the Securities and Exchange Commission Ripple made a statement implying that it was strongly considering appealing against the decision of the court.
Gensler, Ripple’s XRP Referring to the decision that the token does not require disclosure when sold directly to exchanges, he commented, “We are still looking and evaluating.”
That comment fueled speculation that the SEC might file an appeal, which is rarely accepted and could speed up the process.
Gensler’s comments indicate that the SEC believes the current decision creates enough uncertainty to warrant such action.
Gensler’s comment on the summary judgment published last week was his first reaction to the Ripple lawsuit. He expressed disappointment with the effects of the decision on retail investors.
The summary decision from the court was described as a “partial victory” by the community, with the token price rising as much as 80%. However, it had no direct impact as the price had already fallen at the time of Gensler’s announcement.
John Reed Stark, previously an SEC official, echoed Gensler’s concerns, stating that the Ripple decision is on “shaky ground” and will likely be appealed. Stark noted the decision’s nuanced differentiation between private XRP sales to accredited investors and programmatic sales to exchanges.
He argues that this could lead to a new category of “semi-securities” whose status changes according to investor sophistication. Stark described it as “unintuitive, inconsistent with SEC case law, and unprecedented in this context.”
The possibility of an appeal leaves the final outcome of the case and the future regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies far from certain.
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