The ongoing legal battle between cryptocurrency payments company Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking another significant step forward this week. Both sides are preparing to take the next step in the appeals process. This development could have far-reaching consequences not only for Ripple, but also for XRP price and the entire crypto industry.

Further developments and key dates in the Ripple and SEC lawsuit

According to Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, today marks an significant date for upcoming events in the industry Ripple vs. SEC legal battle. In accordance with the Court’s instructions, the deadline for submitting the application is October 16 US SEC submit a Form C. As part of the appeal process, Form C is a procedural document that contains detailed information about what a party intends to appeal.

Terrett revealed on X (formerly Twitter) post that the SEC Form C will contain key details about her planned appeal Justice Analisa Torres’ July 2023 court ruling, which found that programmatic selling XRP was not classified as securities.

Similarly, Ripple will soon comply with the SEC’s appeal. The company will submit a Form C cross appeal within seven days of the request from the regulatory authority. This means that if the SEC files a Form C today, the crypto company will likely file its own in the coming week.

Ripple is expected to present its counter-arguments in the filing, detailing the scope of the cross-appeal. Once both Form Cs are filed, Ripple and the SEC will negotiate a clearance schedule, after which the regulator will have up to 90 days to submit its first legal opinion.

Prolonged legal battle may impact the price of XRP

Terrett revealed that timeline updates Ripple and SEC appeals process were provided by Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Stuart Alderoty in a longer conversation.

Alderoty suggested that KNOT it will likely be a full 90 days before he files his first legal opinion. This suggests that the regulator’s goal may be to extend the appeals process as long as possible. The opening statement will be a full statement of all the legal arguments the SEC intends to present against Ripple and company Favorable ruling of the Tribunal from July 2023.

After the SEC’s first appearance, Ripple will have the opportunity to respond and also counter the SEC’s arguments. According to Alderoty, the full clearance process between Ripple and the SEC is expected to take until July 2025.

This means that starting in December 2020, when the regulator first filed a lawsuit against Ripple, the legal battle could last more than four years, and possibility of reaching five years if a resolution is not reached. This long-running legal battle could have solemn consequences for the price of XRP, which has been in a state of stagnation since 2007 The SEC filed a lawsuit.

The cryptocurrency has traded around $0.50 for years, only seeing modest increases to $0.60 as market conditions become more favorable. However, this price escalate is always short-lived because XRP drops frequently back to $0.50.

Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com