Ripple vs SEC takes a new turn as regulator seeks $770 mln in penalties

• The SEC is pursuing a hefty $770 million settlement from Ripple Labs over alleged violations.
• Ripple obtained a full crypto asset license in Singapore, despite ongoing legal challenges.

The ongoing legal clash between Ripple [XRP] and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took a new twist, with the SEC demanding a substantial $770 million settlement from the company. The SEC has alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws related to Ripple’s institutional sales of XRP.

Realistic or not, here’s XRP’s market cap in BTC terms

This added a new chapter to the protracted SEC vs Ripple saga.

Public figures chime in

John Deaton, an attorney, asserted that the SEC are aggressively pursuing “$770M worth of flesh” from Ripple. He further stated that the SEC’s intentions extended beyond determining whether XRP is a security; they aim to make an example of Ripple.

Deaton pointed out that the penalty phase resembles a second case that involved more depositions, and extensive legal proceedings. He believed that the crypto company is determined to significantly reduce the SEC’s proposed $770 million penalty.

Drawing comparisons to the SEC’s case against LBRY, where they initially sought $23 million but eventually settled for a $130,000 fine, Deaton suggested that Ripple may have a chance to reduce this colossal figure substantially.

I believe Ripple will be successful in cutting the $770M figure down drastically. This isn’t a fraud case. The goal is to reach an appropriate fine against Ripple for engaging in transactions that qualified as the sale of unregistered securities, but sold in the context of a new…

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) October 25, 2023

The pivotal date in this ongoing legal battle is 17 January, 2024, coinciding with the oral argument concerning the Coinbase motion.

The outcome of this argument holds significant weight, as Deaton speculates that a victory for Coinbase could force the SEC to reevaluate its strategy and possibly open doors for a settlement with Ripple.

Conversely, if Coinbase faces defeat, it may prolong the legal tussle between Ripple and the SEC.

Ripple marches on

Amid the legal turbulence, Ripple has continued to make progress on various fronts. Recently, on 3 October, Ripple achieved a major milestone by securing a full crypto asset license in Singapore.

This accomplishment was credited to its Singapore subsidiary, Ripple Markets APAC Pte Ltd. It obtained a Major Payments Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

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This license enables Ripple to provide digital payment token services in Singapore.

However, these developments did not appear to significantly influence the price of XRP. At the time of this writing, XRP was trading at $0.551 and experienced a minor decline of 0.64% over the last 24 hours.