Key Takeaways
- The SEC’s case against Ripple is expected to conclude soon as negotiations continue.
- Ripple’s legal team is seeking changes to a court ruling to avoid a $125 million fine.
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The years-long legal battle between the US SEC and Ripple Labs is nearing resolution, as both sides negotiate the details of the August district court ruling, FOX Business journalist Eleanor Terrett reported Wednesday, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter.
🚨SCOOP: Two well-placed sources tell me that the @SECGov vs. @Ripple case is in the process of wrapping up and could be over soon.
My understanding is that the delay in reaching an agreement is due to Ripple’s legal team negotiating more favorable terms regarding the August…
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) March 12, 2025
The SEC has withdrawn numerous lawsuits against crypto companies over the past few weeks. These include Coinbase, Gemini, Robinhood, Uniswap Labs, Kraken, and OpenSea. The securities watchdog and Consensys also reached an agreement to dismiss the securities enforcement case concerning MetaMask.
As for Binance, the crypto firm and the SEC filed a joint motion to pause their ongoing litigation for 60 days. The regulator also paused its civil fraud lawsuit against Justin Sun, with both sides reportedly seeking a resolution.
However, the SEC-Ripple case remains unresolved, with settlement talks delayed due to ongoing negotiations over the terms of the August court decision, which ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million fine and imposed a permanent injunction preventing the company from selling XRP to institutional investors.
Ripple is arguing that if the SEC’s new leadership is reconsidering its enforcement approach and giving other crypto firms a fresh start, it should not have to accept penalties based on past regulatory uncertainty.
Since there is no clear precedent for handling such a situation, the resolution is taking longer than expected.
Legal experts previously offered comparable perspectives.
In a statement shared this month, James Murphy, a renowned crypto lawyer, speculated that the delay might not be solely due to the SEC. He suggested that Ripple is actively negotiating with the SEC to get certain parts of Judge Torres’s August ruling overturned or modified.
According to Murphy, while the ruling was largely seen as a win for XRP holders, it had two elements that were problematic for Ripple, including securities law violations (institutional sales) and the injunction. These factors could prevent Ripple from executing future plans, such as a public market debut.
“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,” Murphy stated. “So, it makes sense (to me at least) that Ripple could be negotiating for a better deal than that.”
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