Ripple Advocates for a Reduced fine in SEC Lawsuit, Referencing Terra Settlement in its Latest Filing
In a recent SEC filing, Ripple is citing the TerraForm Labs (TFL) consent judgment as a basis for arguing for a $10 million fine, as opposed to the SEC’s proposed $2 billion penalty.
The TFL case involved a consent judgment that resulted in the disgorgement of over $3.58 billion and a civil penalty of $420 million. Ripple is comparing the civil penalty in the TFL lawsuit, which represents 1.27% of the defendants’ gross sales totaling $33 billion, to the SEC’s proposed $2 billion fine related to the sale of XRP to institutional investors.
Ripple has highlighted that TFL executives used fictitious data to attract potential investors and engaged in fraudulent practices to support the token’s price. This case involved one of the largest securities frauds in U.S. history, encompassing two major fraudulent schemes that led to the loss of $40 billion in investors’ funds.
Ripple also pointed out that the SEC typically requests a civil penalty between 0.6% and 1.8% in similar cases and argued that the SEC’s requested civil penalty is far beyond this range, despite the absence of evidence of fraud and the lack of losses incurred by institutional investors.
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The wider crypto community has reacted to the filing, with notable figures such as pro-XRP lawyer Bill Morgan and former securities lawyer Marc Fagel expressing their perspectives on the matter. CEO of CryptoQuant, Ki Young Ju, raised questions about where Terraform Labs would obtain the funds to settle with the SEC, given its claim of depleting reserves during the Terra collapse two years ago.
In the SEC v. Ripple case, while the SEC seeks nearly a $2 billion fine, Ripple argues that the civil penalty should not exceed $10 million. Both parties have submitted necessary filings and are awaiting the court’s final verdict, anticipated to be delivered imminently. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has stated that he expects the court to issue its final verdict before September 21, although the outcome remains uncertain.
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