TL;DR
- Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC sees renewed optimism with Gary Gensler’s resignation and speculation of the case being dropped under new leadership.
- Legal experts suggest a possible $125M settlement or restructured terms, though opinions on dismissal vary.
Is the End Near?
Despite the numerous developments as of late, the lawsuit between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains ongoing. It dates back to December 2020 when the regulator accused the company and some of its executives of illegally raising $1.3 billion through an unregistered securities offering by selling its native cryptocurrency, XRP.
The Ripple community had cause for celebration recently. First, they cheered Donald Trump’s presidential win, who promised to fire the SEC’s Chairman Gary Gensler on day 1 after assuming office. Later, the regulator’s leader (who is known for his anti-crypto stance) confirmed he will vacate his post on January 20 (the day marking Trump’s inauguration).
Somewhat expectedly, these developments have resulted in a massive resurgence for XRP’s price and speculation that the legal battle will soon be officially resolved under Gensler’s successor.
Most recently, Chris Giancarlo (former Chairman of the CFTC) claimed the SEC might drop the case during Trump’s administration.
“I would recommend that regulatory agencies drop a lot of these cases where they’ve lost. I think they should drop the XRP case. I would bet that they would,” he added.
The Possible Scenarios
The American attorneys Jeremy Hogan and Fred Rispoli also touched upon the matter recently. The former predicted that the Commission might dismiss all non-fraud crypto lawsuits filed over the years. He believes the Ripple case could be settled for the previously ruled amount of $125 million.
“It would be…awkward to settle for less than what was already awarded by a Court! The Coinbase and other cases in litigation will simply be dismissed. This will take some time. Not January, but perhaps before summer. That’s my call, and I’m sticking to it,” Hogan said.
Rispoli thinks that dropping the lawsuit is “unrealistic,” claiming the $125 million penalty for Ripple is the biggest win the SEC can gain. The lawyer also forecasted that the watchdog’s new potential leadership will “recognize this whole case was idiotic and settle at that point.”
“This might include a reduction in the fine and an agreement that current sales of XRP by Ripple are sufficiently structured to not be investment contracts,“ Rispoli added.
Meanwhile, Ripple’s CLO Stuart Alderoty recently sparked rumors that the case’s resolution might be just around the corner. In a mystic post on X, he hinted at a complete victory on the legal front, praising the efforts of CEO Brad Garlinghouse and the entire team.
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