The court fined Ripple $125 million as part of a multi-year lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The regulator initially demanded $2 billion.
Judge Analisa Torres also banned the fintech company from further violating securities laws because "there is a reasonable likelihood of future abuse."
Earlier, Ripple demanded to limit the fine to $ 10 million. The agency noted that this would be a "slap in the face" to the supervisory authorities.
"The court reduced the SEC's claims by ~94%, recognizing that they had overplayed their hand. We respect the decision [...]. This is a victory for Ripple, the industry and the rule of law. We don't know how the regulator will stand up to the entire XRP community," commented Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
The SEC asked for $2B, and the Court reduced their demand by ~94% recognizing that they had overplayed their hand. We respect the Court’s decision and have clarity to continue growing our company.
This is a victory for Ripple, the industry and the rule of law. The SEC’s…
This point of view was supported by analyst and founder of MN Trading Michael van de Poppe.
Big news! $XRP lawsuit is settled!
The SEC asked for more than a billion in fines, but they only need to pay $125 million.
Big victory for Ripple and crypto. pic.twitter.com/LcMLwZd9b6
In a comment for The Block, SEC representatives noted that the court granted the agency's petitions, including an injunction prohibiting Ripple from violating securities laws. He added that the fines were much more than the firm had offered.
"As every court has noted, the law applies when companies offer and sell investment contracts, regardless of the technologies or labels they use," the official stressed.
Ripple and the SEC have been in litigation since 2020, when the Commission accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP in the form of unregistered securities.
In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of the company.
She came to the conclusion that the sales and other distributions of tokens do not represent the offer and implementation of investment contracts.
However, Ripple's victory was incomplete — according to the verdict, the purchase of coins worth more than $700 million by institutions violated US laws.
https://forklog.com/news/chastichnaya-pobeda-podrobnosti-i-posledstviya-dela-sec-protiv-rippleThe SEC attempted to challenge the court's ruling, but Torres rejected the agency's interim appeal. She considered that the Commission had not provided enough evidence, and the arguments presented would not be able to "significantly advance the final termination of the case."
Recall that in October 2023, the regulator withdrew a lawsuit against co-founder Chris Larsen and Garlinghouse with accusations of violating securities laws. At the same time, Ripple's director of legal affairs, Stuart Alderoti, noted that this was the SEC's third defeat in a lawsuit in the absence of victories.
https://forklog.com/cryptorium/chto-takoe-ripple