In this illustration taken on August 6, 2021, a representation of the Ripple cryptocurrency is seen. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo Acquire license rights
NEW YORK, Oct 3 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday refused to allow the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to appeal its recent decision involving Ripple Labs, a ruling that has been seen as a major defeat for the regulator in its effort to control cryptocurrencies. markets.
In its decision of July 13U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan ruled that Ripple's sale of the XRP digital token on public exchanges complied with federal securities laws because buyers did not have reasonable expectations of profits based on Ripple's efforts.
The SEC had requested permission to appeal Torres' findings on "programmatic" sales of XRP and on "other distributions" of XRP as a means of payment for services, saying an appeal would be important for a "large number" of lawsuits.
But the judge found no "substantial reason for a difference of opinion" about her findings and did not agree that an appeal would materially advance the case toward a conclusion.
He also said his decision did not conflict with a July 31 ruling by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan, who said the SEC had a "plausible claim" that Terraform Labs' Terra USD token was a security when It was sold on public exchanges.
Torres said Rakoff had been considering Terraform's motion to dismiss the SEC case and must accept all reasonable inferences in favor of the regulator.
The trial in the Ripple case is scheduled for April 23, 2024.
The SEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment after market hours. Lawyers for Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen did not immediately respond to similar requests.
In its December 2020 lawsuit, the SEC accused Ripple of illegally lifting more than $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities offering through the sale of XRP.
The SEC has long claimed that many digital assets are securities, just like stocks and bonds, and that it has the power to regulate them.
His other lawsuits include cases against binancethe largest cryptocurrency platform in the world, and Coinbase (COIN.O)the largest cryptocurrency platform in the US
Torres discovered in July that only some sales of XRP violated federal securities laws.
The case is SEC v Ripple Labs Inc et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-10832.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
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