First Mover Americas: Judge Dismisses SEC’s Attempt to Appeal Ripple Ruling

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A U.S. federal judge has rejected the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) bid to appeal its ground-shaking loss against Ripple, the crypto company associated with the XRP token. XRP’s price rallied about 5% on the news. District Judge Analisa Torres said in a brief ruling on Tuesday that the SEC had failed to meet its burden under the law to show that there were controlling questions of law or that there are substantial grounds for differences of opinion. The decision isn’t a complete loss for the SEC, though. The judge set an April 2024 trial date for other issues that still need resolution. The agency could still try to appeal the entire case following that trial.

The absence of a clear U.S. legal framework for crypto is no bar against pressing fraud charges against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a filing published early Wednesday morning. Bankman-Fried’s trial began Tuesday. The former CEO of the crypto exchange has pleaded not guilty to allegations he misappropriated customer funds from FTX. Meanwhile lawyers from both sides are still sparring over what evidence the as-yet-unselected jury will be able to hear. The prosecutors are now fighting claims, reiterated by Bankman-Fried on Monday, that the regulatory status of crypto exchanges is relevant.

A new decentralized finance data platform could underpin future regulation of crypto market actors, according to a study released by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Wednesday. Project Atlas has initially been used to map out significant international flows between crypto exchanges, said a proof-of-concept report issued jointly with the Dutch and German central banks. “We are developing a new and important public good for central banks globally,” Cecilia Skingsley, head of the BIS Innovation Hub, said in a statement. “Data on cross-border flows are relevant for areas like payments and macroeconomic analysis.”