
A federal judge has rejected the SEC's bid to appeal its ground-shaking loss against Ripple, the crypto firm associated with the XRP token.
District Judge Analisa Torres said in a brief ruling Tuesday that the SEC had failed to meet its obligation under the law to show that there were controlling questions of law or that there were substantial grounds for differences of opinion.
The decision is not a complete loss for the SEC. The judge set a trial date for other issues that still need resolution in April 2024. The agency is still considering appealing the case.
The judge previously said in July that while Ripple violated federal securities laws by selling XRP to institutional investors directly, it did not do so by promoting XRP to retail customers through programmatic sales to exchanges. The decision casts a shadow over the ability of securities regulators to patrol crypto.
After July's ruling, the SEC announced it would file an interlocutory appeal and move to remain any further decision-making as it seeks an appeal court review of Judge Torres' ruling.