XRP prices climbed Wednesday night after a new report that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is wrapping up its case against Ripple, the largest known corporate holder of the XRP token.
Journalist Eleanor Terrett reported on X Wednesday that the Wall Street regulator may close its case on Ripple “soon,” citing two “well-placed sources.”
As soon as news of the report spread on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform, XRP prices started to make a gradual climb. The XRP Ledger’s native cryptocurrency was up 3.7% in the day, as most major digital currencies were down amid a broader financial market reaction to the Trump trade war.
From trading at a low of $2.13 earlier in the day, XRP was trading as high as $2.26.
Why is the Ripple Case Seeing Slower Progress Than Others?
Since former SEC Chair Gary Gensler stepped down and Acting Chair Mark Uyeda stepped into power, some of the most high-profile cases the financial regulator initiated against crypto firms have been either dropped or actions were taken to pause litigation.
For instance, the SEC recently agreed in principle to dismiss its lawsuit against leading crypto exchange Kraken. It also closed its investigations into Gemini, TRON, Robinhood, and Uniswap in recent weeks.
However, there has been little progress in the Ripple case, raising questions about what’s causing the delay in either dismissing or pausing the lawsuit.
Terrett said that based on what she’s heard, it appears the delay in reaching an agreement with the SEC is “due to Ripple’s legal team negotiating more favorable terms regarding the August district court ruling.”
In the said ruling, a district judge ruled that the XRP token is not a security when offered on exchanges, but it also included a permanent injunction that prohibits Ripple from selling the altcoin to institutional investors.
“The argument, I’m told, is that if the new SEC leadership is wiping the enforcement slate clean for all previously-targeted crypto firms because it believes regulatory clarity will resolve the underlying issue, why should Ripple still be penalized?” Terrett wrote.
As per the ruling, Ripple is being asked to pay $125 million in civil penalties, and in essence, Ripple is agreeing to admit that it violated securities laws if it accepts the ruling.
Financial services lawyer James Murphy, a well-followed figure in the crypto space more popularly known as MetaLawMan, previously suggested a similar scenario, saying that the reason there has been a delay in dismissing the lawsuit was on Ripple’s side, not the SEC’s.
“It could be that Ripple is negotiating to get the SEC to agree to vacate some or all of Judge Torres’ decision,” he speculated earlier this month.
What Ripple Has Said Regarding the Case
Ripple and its leaders have yet to provide official news on why the Ripple case appears to be moving very slowly.
However, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse seemed to suggest speculations around the fintech firm being the one holding up the lawsuit’s dismissal are true.
Following the dismissal of the SEC’s case against Coinbase, Garlinghouse said the new SEC “has demonstrated a clear interest in moving on quickly from the failed regulation by enforcement policies of the last administration.”
It remains to be seen whether the SEC will soon reach an agreement to dismiss its lawsuit against Ripple, but for now, the possibility alone of a dismissal is already reflecting on XRP prices.
The post $XRP Up On News SEC Case vs Ripple May Be Over Soon appeared first on International Business Times.
