The SEC stated an appeal could address legal issues on which there was “substantial ground for differences of opinion”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to appeal a recent court ruling involving Ripple Labs that was a setback for the SEC’s attempts to supervise crypto currency markets.

In a letter on Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission asked U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan to let a federal appeals court review her July 13 decision, in which she said that the sale of Ripple’s XRP digital token on public exchanges is in accordance with the federal securities laws.

The Securities and Exchange Commission stated an appeal could address legal issues on which there was “substantial ground for differences of opinion.”

It added that the outcome of an appeal had “particular consequence” for its ability to implement securities laws, and for a “large number” of other lawsuits.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has for years contended that digital assets such as crypto currency are securities, as are stocks and bonds, and that it has power to regulate them.

The agency sued Ripple, Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder and Chairman Chris Larsen in December 2020, accusing them of unlawfully raising over $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP.

Torres said Ripple did not breach the law when the XRP token was sold on public exchanges, because buyers had no reasonable expectation of profit based on Ripple’s efforts.

Eighteen days later, though, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who sits on the same court, ruled the opposite way in finding that the Terra USD token offered by Terraform Labs qualified as a security when sold on public exchanges.

Torres’ decision was not a total victory for Ripple, as she found that it infringed securities laws by selling XRP to institutional investors.

The judge must decide whether to let the Securities and Exchange Commission appeal her decision, and put the case on hold.