The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been authorized to present a motion that, if granted, would allow it to appeal in the ongoing case against Ripple Labs. The decision was made by Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York, allowing the SEC to file a motion for leave to file an interlocutory appeal.

The SEC’s request comes after a federal ruling that XRP transactions through exchanges did not violate securities laws. The SEC now has until August 18 to present its motion officially, and Ripple has until September 1 to respond.

The case against Ripple began in December 2020 when the SEC accused the company of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, which it claimed was an unregistered security. Last month, Judge Torres ruled that some of Ripple’s sales, known as programmatic, did not violate securities laws due to a blind bid process. However, other direct sales of the token to institutional investors were deemed securities, resulting in a partial win for the SEC.

The SEC is specifically looking to file a motion to appeal the part of the decision about the programmatic sales and “other distributions” that included offers and sales of XRP in exchange for goods and services. The appeal process is not straightforward, as the SEC would still need permission from the Second Circuit, which would then investigate the interlocutory appeal.

The recent turn in the legal battle has had an impact on the crypto market, with the price of XRP falling by 3.6% within 60 minutes of the announcement. The ongoing case has been closely watched by the crypto community, as it could set precedents for how digital assets are regulated in the U.S.