Coinspeaker
SEC Seeks Final Judgment against Ripple Labs with $2B Fine in XRP Lawsuit
In an interesting development on Monday, March 25, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested the final judgment against Ripple Labs in the XRP lawsuit, along with $2 billion in civil penalties. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty were the first ones to report on this development.
Much recently, the US SEC lodged a motion requesting a remedies package from Ripple for its violation of securities laws concerning XRP sales to institutional investors.
#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP The @SECGov has filed its Motion for Remedies and Entry of Final Judgment, its Memorandum of Law in Support of that Motion, and its "Proposed" Judgment.https://t.co/uPlpJ7Tmon
— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪 (@FilanLaw) March 26, 2024
Commenting on this development, Ripple CLO Alderoty stated that they would make the filings available to the public on Tuesday, March 26. However, Ripple Labs will be filing the response next month. In a short thread on the X platform, Alderoty wrote:
“Our response will be filed next month, but as we all have seen time and again, this is a regulator that trades in statements that are false, mischaracterized and designed to mislead. They stayed true to form here. Rather than faithfully apply the law, the SEC remains bent on wanting to punish and intimidate Ripple – and the industry at large.”
Furthermore, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse criticized SEC chair Gary Gensler for acting outside the law. He also cited SEC’s recently lost DEBT Box case while calling out the regulator for ‘gross abuse of the power entrusted to it by Congress’. He also said that they would continue to expose the SEC for their unnecessary arm-twisting actions in the upcoming hearings.
The SEC plans to ask the Judge for $2B in a case that involved no allegations (let alone findings) of fraud or recklessness. There is absolutely no precedent for this. We will continue to expose the SEC for what they are when we respond to this. pic.twitter.com/LdMQFQm70j
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 25, 2024
XRP Price Remains Firm but Faces Challenges Ahead
Ripple’s native cryptocurrency XRP has been showing little to no movement. While the rest of the altcoin space is buzzing with 5-8% gains, the XRP’s price is up by a mere 2.24% in the last 24 hours trading at $0.6459.
US-based attorney Fred Rispoli shared his insights stating that Ripple’s discounted sales to institutional buyers could be the reason for the lower price of XRP. Rispoli observations come while discussing the latest developments in the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC.
The SEC’s argument aims to demonstrate that Ripple’s sales have harmed investors, particularly those who acquired XRP at higher prices. Expressing his concern, Rispoli added that there could be repercussions of the company’s actions on its reputation as well as the XRP price. He also added that Ripple’s past practice of selling XRP to institutions at a discounted price could be the reason behind the low XRP price.
…have already said the SEC's motion is full of mischaracterizations. Let's hope that is correct because the picture painted is not a good look for Ripple and lends credence to the $XRP haters on why the price is so low. Namely, the deep discounts by Ripple on XRP sales. 3/10
— Fred Rispoli (@freddyriz) March 26, 2024
He added that whenever the XRP price surges, institutions would be keen on selling their holdings while adding to the selling pressure. In this case, they could dump their XRP on retail investors that would source the liquidity.
SEC Seeks Final Judgment against Ripple Labs with $2B Fine in XRP Lawsuit
