Judge Analisa Torres of the district court stated in a brief ruling on Tuesday (October 3) that the SEC had not met its burden under the law to prove that there were significant legal control questions or a substantial basis for differing views.
However, this decision is not a complete loss for the SEC. The judge scheduled a trial date for April 2024 for other remaining issues that still need resolution. The agency can still attempt to appeal the overall case later.
The judge had previously issued a ruling in July that, while Ripple had violated federal securities law by selling XRP directly to institutional investors, they had not done so by providing XRP to retail customers through programmatic sales to exchanges. This decision raised questions about how extensively regulatory agencies can oversee cryptocurrencies.
After the July ruling, the SEC announced that they would temporarily appeal and hold off on any further decisions as they submitted an application for the appeals court to review Judge Torres’s decision.
Spokespersons for the SEC and Ripple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.