Uphold’s CEO Calls Judge Torres ‘Very Smart.’ Explains Why It Is Hard for the SEC to ‘Successfully Appeal’

CEO of cloud-based financial service platform, Uphold, Simon McLoughlin in a recent conversation opened up about the flood of buy orders that ensued following Judge Torres’ recent ruling in favor of XRP.

In an interview with Zack Rector, Simon recalled how they experienced a mix of ‘elation and vindication’ after the ruling came out. He highlighted that the decision by Uphold to continue supporting XRP in the United States, even when other trading venues chose not to, had been validated by the court’s ruling.

Simon then praised the court’s judgment for its consideration of existing legal precedent, particularly the application of the Howey test to determine whether XRP constitutes a security. According to him, this approach potentially makes the decision more challenging to ‘successfully appeal’, as it refrains from introducing novel concepts or interpretations. 

The discussion moved on to the aftermath of the court ruling, exploring how it has impacted Ripple’s business and the cryptocurrency landscape as a whole. The revelation that discussions with banks, institutions, and payment providers in the United States have been on the move, was also discussed.  He said that Ripple has been working behind the scenes to set the stage for future partnerships and collaborations.

Talking about his reaction to Ripple news, Simon said, “It was Elation. I mean, it’s been a long and lonely battle and we took quite a big bold decision a couple of years ago to continue supporting it in the United States when a lot of other trading venues did not. So when the announcement came out, it was complete elation and vindication because, you know, it was a big bet for us and I think when we read the judgment, I thought she was very smart in only applying existing jurisprudence on the Howey test to her ruling, in my opinion.”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to make an “interlocutory appeal” about the judge’s decision on Ripple’s XRP sales. This was mentioned in a court filing on Wednesday. The SEC wants permission to appeal one part of the recent ruling while the rest of their case moves to trial.