US Court denies Ripple and Sec motion to annul Fine and court order

The judge responsible for the case alleges that there are no valid reasons to accept the motion presented by Ripple and the Sec. Therefore, the original amount of the fine is maintained, at least until new notice.

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• Judge Analisa Torres denied a joint motion of Ripple and the Sec to eliminate a previous court order.
• The ruling argues that there are no extraordinary circumstances to justify the reduction of the fine.
• Ripple It still faces a total fine of USD $ 125 million for institutional sales of XRP.

Despite the attempts of both parties by terminating the process, the legal dispute between Ripple and the United States Stock Exchange and Securities Commission (SEC) He must continue his course, this time for the rejection of a federal judge to an attempt to reduce the economic sanction and eliminate a permanent court order previously imposed.

In a resolution issued on Thursday, June 20, reviewed by The BlockJudge Analisa Torres, of the New York Southern District Court, denied the request for Ripple and the Sec to cancel an order that prohibits future violations of the Securities Law. This order had been imposed as part of the sanction derived from the case in which the company was accused of marketing values ​​without registering them.

According to the ruling, the parties sought that the court allowed a 60% reduction in the fine, from USD $ 75 million to USD $ 50 million for the Sec, with the rest returned to Ripple Nevertheless, The judge said there have been no convincing arguments that justify modifying a firm judicial ruling.

Case context: Ripple vs Sec

The legal battle between Ripple Labs and the Sec dates back to 2020, when the federal agency accused the company of raising USD $ 1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, qualifying it as an unregistered value.

In July 2023, Judge Torres issued a decision that divided the case into two parts. On the one hand, he determined that sales of XRP (carried out through processes in the secondary market) did not violate the securities laws. On the other, he considered that direct sales to institutional investors did constitute offers of unregistered, so Ripple It was responsible and faced a fine of USD $ 125 million for this segment.

In March 2024, the CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, declared that the dispute with the Sec He had ended in essence, after the withdrawal of an appeal by the regulator. However, details were still subtracted from solving the fine imposed.

Arguments rejected by the judge

Ripple and sec They had presented a joint motion asking that the permanent court order be eliminated and the fine would be reduced, claiming that suppressing the order was of public interest. They also argued that the regulatory environment had changed after the exit of the former president of the Sec, Gary Gensler, at the beginning of 2025.

The judge, however, was emphatic in her answer: “The parties have no authority to agree that they will not be affected by a final ruling of the Court that determined the violation of a Congress Law,” Torres wrote. He added that to revoke a failure of that nature, they must present themselves “Exceptional circumstances that exceed public interest or administration of justice”, Something that did not happen in this case.

The ruling also emphasizes that the Sec It can change posture after a compliance action, but this is not enough to reverse an already established judicial decision.

Changes in the Sec and regulatory climate

Since Gary Gensler left office as president of the Sec With the arrival of the Trump administration, the agency has abandoned multiple investigations and charges against great firms in the crypto sector. In addition, it formed a special unit for cryptocurrencies that has celebrated several round tables with the aim of establishing a clearer regulatory framework for digital assets.

This evolution in the regulatory position was cited by Ripple and the Sec as part of the argument to review the sanction. However, the judge considered that the existence of an institutional change does not imply that a sanction based on previous legal findings should be reversed.

Following steps in the case

With this decision, Ripple It still faces the obligation to pay the full fine of USD $ 125 million, unless both parties decide to withdraw their appeals or present new resources to a higher instance.

Neither Ripple nor the Sec They have issued statements about the ruling. The case, which has been in court for more than four years, remains a key reference in the evolution of cryptocurrency regulation in the United States.

Article written by a content editor. Edited by Angel Di Matteo / Diariobitcoin

Original image of Unspash

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