Lawyer James Murphy has offered his theory on why the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not dropping the case against Ripple .
It may not be the SEC. It's possible that Ripple is negotiating to get the SEC to agree to overturn part or all of Judge Torres' ruling, a lawyer made the surprising suggestion.
Murphy believes that despite the positive court decisions, Ripple may be dissatisfied with some of the findings.
Torres' decision was undoubtedly a good one for the holders XRP , but (a) finding securities law violations and (b) injunctive relief (with accompanying "bad guy" provisions) are hardly good for Ripple This is especially important given that Ripple is considering the possibility of future tax exemption of securities or IPOs.
The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, claiming that XRP is an unregistered security. In July 2023, Judge Torres ruled that XRP is not a security in retail sales, but is a security in institutional sales.
Simultaneously Ripple was fined $125 million in August 2024, well short of the SEC's $2 billion demand. The regulator filed an appeal in October 2024, and the case remains pending as of March 2025.
The lawyer suggested that the SEC would accept a settlement in which both sides would drop their appeals and Ripple would have paid a fine of $125 million.
I believe the SEC would have accepted a settlement in which both sides would have dropped their appeals and the SEC would have been fined $125 million. It is reasonable to assume that Ripple can negotiate a better deal.
In subsequent posts, Murphy wrote that federal judges are increasingly less likely to overturn previous settlements, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing legal battle.
