A US judge has rejected a joint request from Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle their long-running legal battle over XRP.
Judge Rejects Settlement Bid
The SEC and Ripple had hoped to get a preliminary ruling on reducing a $125 million penalty against Ripple to $50 million. However, District Judge Analisa Torres stated that both parties failed to meet the high bar needed to overturn the existing penalty. The judge emphasized that such relief is only granted under exceptional circumstances, which the joint motion did not address. Essentially, the judge found the request procedurally flawed.
Background of the Case
The SEC initially sued Ripple in late 2020, claiming that the company sold XRP as an unregistered security. In 2023, Judge Torres ruled that Ripple’s automated XRP sales weren’t securities, but that direct sales to institutional investors were. This led to the $125 million penalty last August, which both parties appealed. The judge’s recent decision keeps the legal fight alive.