Ripple v. SEC Lawsuit Update March 9th

TL;DR

• Ripple’s lawsuit with the SEC remains ongoing, with speculation that the company might be waiting for Paul Atkins to take over as Chairman of the agency to potentially drop or reduce the $125 million penalty.

• Prior to the SEC’s appeal, the firm was ready to pay the fine.

Is Ripple Waiting for This?

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has drastically changed its approach toward the cryptocurrency industry since the departure of its former Chairman, Gary Gensler. Recall that it dismissed or paused numerous lawsuits against crypto entities, including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Uniswap, and more. However, its most notorious case against Ripple remains ongoing.

Recently, the attorney Fred Rispoli said he has a new theory on the legal battle. He sees “no reason why the current 2-1 pro-crypto Commission wouldn’t drop the appeal and keep the $125M judgment in place.” 

The multi-million penalty refers to Judge Torres’ decision from last summer. Back then, she ordered Ripple to pay the amount for violating certain rules. The company’s execs were ready to settle the bill, but the regulator filed a last-minute appeal, thus prolonging the lawsuit indefinitely. Its reaction was rather expected since the fine represents just a fraction of the $2 billion the SEC initially asked for. 

Rispoli assumed that Ripple’s team might be waiting for Paul Atkins to step in and drop or reduce the figure. Atkins, nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as Chairman of the SEC, has yet to take the helm and should first receive the Senate’s confirmation. Currently, the agency is spearheaded by Mark Uyeda, who has previously shown support for the cryptocurrency sector. 

Over the past few days, there has been increased speculation that instead of paying the $125 million penalty, Ripple might send the equivalent amount in XRP to the strategic crypto reserve that Trump recently announced. Rispoli gave his two cents on the matter, saying:

“It’s possible, but the way we have been moving incrementally, I doubt this is a likely scenario.”

Other Opinions

Earlier this month, American attorney James Murphy suggested that the case could still be unsolved because the firm might be “trying hard to get the SEC to agree to vacate some or all of Judge Torres’ decisions.” 

He sees the $125 million penalty as “great” for XRP holders but maintained that the findings that Ripple has breached some laws “is not so great” for the company’s reputation. 

Meanwhile, the former White House official Anthony Scaramucci believes that the lawsuit is over. In a recent interview, he placed the Ripple case among those the SEC has dropped as of late. The host of the conversation, Scott Melker (known as The Wolf of All Streets), agreed with this assumption.