- A Fox Business journalist has hinted that Ripple’s negotiations for better terms are delaying the case between it and the SEC.
- According to her, accepting the ruling by Judge Analisa Torres would be tantamount to admitting to wrongdoing.
XRP has printed 2% gains on its 24-hour chart, dragging the price from $2.1 to $2.22, following reports that Ripple’s multi-year legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is coming to an end. According to the information disclosed by Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, the case is only being delayed because Ripple is seeking better terms of settlement.
The Details of the Story
For context, the federal court, in August 2024, ordered Ripple to pay $125 million as a penalty to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating securities law through the sales of XRP to institutional investors.
As mentioned in our previous news brief, Ripple proposed to deposit the money in an escrow account, which was later accepted by the SEC. However, things are expected to take a different turn as the Commission, under the leadership of Mark Uyeda, has walked away from multiple high-profile legal battles, including Robinhood, Coinbase, and Gemini, as indicated in our recent coverage.
According to Terrett, a close source has informed her that Ripple finds it unfair to conclude the case by paying the existing penalty when regulatory clarity could resolve the underlying issue.
Accepting Judge Analisa Torres’s June 2023 ruling implies that Ripple has admitted to wrongdoing, as claimed by the Fox Business journalist. In that ruling, the judge pointed out that Ripple’s 1,278 direct sales to institutional clients violated securities law. However, sales to retail investors via exchanges did not constitute a violation, as detailed in our previous report.
The argument, I’m told, is that if the new SEC leadership is wiping the enforcement slate clean for all previously targeted crypto firms because it believes regulatory clarity will resolve the underlying issue, why should Ripple still be penalized? Accepting the Torres ruling as it stands would mean that Ripple is essentially agreeing to admit to wrongdoing — but now the SEC itself is seemingly unsure whether any wrongdoing occurred.
Another Expert’s Observation on the Ripple vs SEC Case
On March 1, a renowned legal officer identified on X as MetaLawMan disclosed that the reason for the delay could not be SEC. According to him, Ripple could be engaging in serious conversations with the SEC to “vacate” some or all the decisions announced by Judge Torres. While he admitted that the ruling was generally good for XRP investors, partly violating securities laws and being imposed an injunction “may not be so great for the blockchain company.”
In his submission, MetaLawMan also clarified that his observation could be true if Ripple is considering a future Initial Coin Offering or exempt securities offering.
I believe the SEC would have accepted a settlement—where both sides dismiss their appeals and the SEC takes the $125 million penalty—in a heartbeat. So, it makes sense (to me at least) that Ripple could be negotiating for a better deal than that. This is all pure speculation on my part. I could be wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time.
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