Crypto influencer Ashley Prosper brought attention to Judge Torres’ perspective on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) argument, emphasizing the substantial room for differing viewpoints. While the SEC attempted to draw parallels between the XRP case and Terraform and LBRY, the court ultimately disagreed.
The SEC had pressed charges against Terraform and its CEO, alleging the offering and sale of unregistered securities transactions. However, Judge Torres had previously ruled that the programmatic sale of XRP did not violate securities laws.
In their appeal of the judge’s decision, the SEC referenced the SEC vs. Terraform case, prompting the judge to remark, “There is substantial ground for difference of opinion on whether issuer offers and sales over crypto asset trading platforms can give rise to an investment contract under Howey.”
The court document clarified that programmatic buyers were not led to anticipate profits from Ripple’s efforts, distinguishing it from the Terraform case. Additionally, the ruling specified that its order did not conflict with the Terraform court’s rationale due to the distinct procedural postures of the two cases.
In November 2022, LBRY lost its lawsuit against the SEC for promoting unregistered securities. However, the court noted that LBRY’s case primarily revolved around challenging the first prong of the Howey test, while in the XRP case, only the third component of the Howey test was in dispute. The court stressed that it couldn’t draw conclusions about the LBRY court’s reasoning on an issue that hadn’t been litigated.
Recently, the court rejected the SEC’s request for an interlocutory appeal in its case against Ripple (XRP). Judge Analisa Torres asserted that the SEC’s interlocutory appeal lacked sufficient evidence to suggest that it would advance the case. Furthermore, the court asserted that the SEC failed to provide proof that Ripple’s promotional materials had been distributed to programmatic buyers.