SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit could end soon as negotiations drag on

Key Takeaways

The SEC’s case in opposition to Ripple is anticipated to conclude quickly as negotiations proceed.
Ripple’s authorized workforce is looking for modifications to a court docket ruling to keep away from a $125 million nice.

The years-long authorized battle between the US SEC and Ripple Labs is nearing decision, as each side negotiate the small print of the August district court docket ruling, FOX Enterprise journalist Eleanor Terrett reported Wednesday, citing two sources with data of the matter.

🚨SCOOP: Two well-placed sources inform me that the @SECGov vs. @Ripple case is within the technique of wrapping up and may very well be over quickly.

My understanding is that the delay in reaching an settlement is because of Ripple’s authorized workforce negotiating extra favorable phrases concerning the August…

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) March 12, 2025

The SEC has withdrawn quite a few lawsuits in opposition to crypto corporations over the previous few weeks. These embody Coinbase, Gemini, Robinhood, Uniswap Labs, Kraken, and OpenSea. The securities watchdog and Consensys additionally reached an settlement to dismiss the securities enforcement case regarding MetaMask.

As for Binance, the crypto agency and the SEC filed a joint movement to pause their ongoing litigation for 60 days. The regulator additionally paused its civil fraud lawsuit in opposition to Justin Solar, with each side reportedly looking for a decision.

Nonetheless, the SEC-Ripple case stays unresolved, with settlement talks delayed attributable to ongoing negotiations over the phrases of the August court docket choice, which ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million nice and imposed a everlasting injunction stopping the corporate from promoting XRP to institutional buyers.

Ripple is arguing that if the SEC’s new management is reconsidering its enforcement method and giving different crypto companies a recent begin, it shouldn’t have to simply accept penalties based mostly on previous regulatory uncertainty.

Since there isn’t any clear precedent for dealing with such a scenario, the decision is taking longer than anticipated.

Authorized specialists beforehand provided comparable views.

In an announcement shared this month, James Murphy, a famend crypto lawyer, speculated that the delay may not be solely as a result of SEC. He prompt that Ripple is actively negotiating with the SEC to get sure elements of Choose Torres’s August ruling overturned or modified.

In accordance with Murphy, whereas the ruling was largely seen as a win for XRP holders, it had two components that have been problematic for Ripple, together with securities regulation violations (institutional gross sales) and the injunction. These components may forestall Ripple from executing future plans, equivalent to a public market debut.

“I imagine the SEC would have accepted a settlement—the place each side dismiss their appeals and the SEC takes the $125 million penalty—in a heartbeat,” Murphy acknowledged. “So, it is sensible (to me at the very least) that Ripple may very well be negotiating for a greater deal than that.”