Good day everyone,
I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at the ruling by Judge Analisa Torres that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple deal is “procedurally improper.”
Judge Torres Denies SEC-Ripple Deal
The United States Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed a joint request by the SEC and Ripple to approve a settlement. The news was revealed as part of a May 15 filing submitted to the courts as Torres decided approving a settlement would be “procedurally improper” and therefore the long-running legal dispute will continue.
The years long case between the pair will continue after both Ripple and the SEC had proposed settlement agreement aimed at effectively ending the SEC’s civil enforcement action against the crypto firm on May 8. Judge Torres noted that the parties didn't file the correct procedural motion and stated:
“By styling their motion as one for “settlement approval,” the parties fail to address the heavy burden they must overcome to vacate the injunction and substantially reduce the Civil Penalty.”
The motion had requested for Judge Torres to give an indicative ruling to dissolve the injunction in the Aug. 7, 2024 judgment that prohibited Ripple from "unlawful offer and sale of securities." It also requested the court to reduce the civil penalty on Ripple from $125 million to $25 million. Back on May 8 the SEC published a statement on their website where they noted both parties had looked to seek a limited remand from the district court and after that they would move to dismiss their respective appeals against the final judgment, should Torres reject their request.
It was in March 2025 that the SEC and Ripple reached a settlement which would see Ripple pay $50 million of the previously imposed fine, with the remaining $75 million returned to the company. The court have underlined that the latest request needs to be made under the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure. Judge Torres wrote:
"Relief from judgment is granted only upon a showing of exceptional circumstances. If jurisdiction were restored to this Court, the Court would deny the parties’ motion as procedurally improper.”
While this is a setback, Ripple's chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, stated that this latest order only concerns "procedural concerns" and doesn't affect "Ripple's wins." While it was back in December of 2020 that the SEC sued Ripple, in July 2023 Judge Torres delivered a landmark ruling that said that while the sale of tokens to institutional investors violated securities laws, their sale to retail investors on public exchanges didn't violate the same.
https://x.com/s_alderoty/status/1923087253036757209
Ripple have continued their growth as they have expanded across different regions, particularly the Middle East. On May 19 the company noted that Zand Bank and fintech firm Mamo will integrate Ripple Payments, its blockchain-powered cross-border payments platform. Earlier in May pharmaceutical distribution company Wellgistics also announced plans to integrate XRP into their payment and treasury operations to make them one of the first publicly traded firms to do so. They plan to leverage XRP’s blockchain infrastructure to improve transaction speeds and lower settlement costs for pharmacies, suppliers, and manufacturers.
While the pushback from the court is a setback, it shows how the SEC have made a major move towards being a crypto-friendly agency since Donald Trump returned to the White House. The president has embraced a pro-crypto stance and appointed former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to lead the agency. Atkins is expected to take a markedly more accommodating approach to blockchain sector regulation compared to his predecessor Gary Gensler. Lawsuits have been dropped against Coinbase and Cumberland DRW while a separate investigation into Uniswap Labs closed in February without enforcement action.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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