The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has initiated an appeal against Ripple Labs, asserting that XRP tokens sold to retail investors were unregistered securities. The SEC's appeal follows a New York District Court ruling that determined XRP was not considered an unregistered securities offering when sold to retail investors via exchanges. In its filing to the Second Circuit Appeals Court, the SEC claimed the court erred and contended that both retail and employee transactions involving XRP should be classified as securities. The appeal emerges after a partial loss for the SEC in its case, where Judge Analisa Torres previously ruled XRP was a security in institutional sales but not in retail transactions. Ripple's CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, criticized the SEC's repetitive arguments, while legal experts expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the appeal. The court proceedings could take several months, allowing Ripple to submit counter-arguments. Despite these developments, XRP saw a 10% increase in value following the SEC’s appeal filing.

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