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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Gemini have requested a pause on the watchdog’s lawsuit against the crypto exchange over its Earn program. This move follows the regulator’s efforts to resolve most major crypto litigations outside of the Court.

SEC And Gemini Ask For Pause

On April 1, the US SEC and crypto exchange Gemini sent a letter to New York federal court judge Edgardo Ramos asking for a pause on the regulator’s lawsuit to “allow the parties to explore a potential resolution.”

In the joint motion to stay, the Commission and Gemini lawyers requested a 60-day stay of all the deadlines in the case to discuss the potential resolution, adding that it is in the Court’s best interest as it “would conserve judicial resources.”

SEC and Gemini request a 60-day stay. Source: Court Listener

The SEC sued Gemini in January 2023, arguing that the exchange and the crypto lending firm Genesis Global Capital had illegally offered unregistered securities through the crypto exchange’s Earn Program.

In February 2024, Gemini agreed to pay at least $1.1 billion to the Earn program customers as part of a settlement with the New York State Department Of Financial Services (NYDFS).

“In this case, the parties submit that it is in each of their interests to stay this matter while they consider a potential resolution and agree that no party or non-party would be prejudiced by a stay,” the Tuesday letter argues. The parties also proposed submitting a joint status report within 60 days after entry of the stay.

The End Of The SEC’s Crackdown?

Nearly two months ago, the SEC and Binance also sent a joint motion for a 60-day stay on their crypto litigation, arguing that a stay due to the creation of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, led by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce.

The two parties considered that the Task Force could “impact and facilitate the potential resolution of this case.” Journalist Eleanor Terret noted that after the request to pause the Binance case, more joint motions to stay would likely follow under the new crypto-friendly administration.

Since then, the Commission has dropped several crypto cases, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Consensys. Additionally, it had closed multiple open investigations with no enforcement action taken against Robinhood, Uniswap Labs, Crypto.com, and Gemini, among others.

As reported by Bitcoinist, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss revealed on February 26 that the SEC officially closed its investigation into the company without any enforcement action “699 days after the start of their investigation and 277 days after they sent us a Wells Notice.”

Winklevoss criticized the Commission’s tactics over the previous administration, affirming that, “While this marks another milestone to the end of the war on crypto, (…) it does little to make up for the damage this agency has done to us, our industry, and America.”

He concluded that this is just the beginning “towards ensuring this never happens again to the crypto industry or any other exciting, new frontier industry in the future.”

Total crypto market capitalization is at $2.74 trillion in the one-week chart. Source: TOTAL on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

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• XRP supporters hope Paul Atkins’ eventual SEC leadership will bring a favorable resolution for the Ripple case, given his pro-crypto stance in the past.

• One legal expert predicts a settlement before April 16, while ongoing uncertainty continues to weigh on XRP’s price, currently down 33% from its local high.

The New Chairman Might Soon Take the Helm

Contrary to the closed or paused cases between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and numerous crypto entities, the legal battle against Ripple remains unresolved. The topic is among the most discussed in the space, and as such, it has become the subject of multiple speculations.

Most recently, some X users have raised hopes that the eventual appointment of Paul Atkins as the regulator’s new Chairman could contribute to a favorable resolution for Ripple.

The American, nominated by US President Donald Trump, is reportedly scheduled for a committee hearing on March 27. The Senate will then vote on his appointment, and if confirmed, he will become the next leader of the SEC.

Atkins is known for his pro-crypto stance, which might explain why XRP proponents are awaiting his arrival at the scene. He has also previously criticized the SEC for its approach toward the digital asset industry. Speaking on a podcast in 2023, Atkins claimed that the FTX crisis became an “international debacle” because the agency didn’t enforce a clear regulatory framework for the sector. 

An Outcome in Less Than a Month?

Not long ago, American attorney Fred Rispoli also put his name on the list of people expecting a resolution in the short term. He claimed that Ripple and the SEC might reach a mutual agreement before April 16 (a date that marks the firm’s scheduled filing of their appellate brief).

For her part, Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett revealed that she has inside information that the lawsuit “is in the process of wrapping up and could be over soon.”

According to her sources, the SEC had been thoroughly examining the tussle and is now “seemingly unsure” whether Ripple violated any rules. Recall that Judge Torres found that the company’s institutional sales of XRP tokens breached federal securities laws and ordered a fine of $125 million.

The Delay Isn’t Helping XRP

Some market observers believe the ongoing case is among the obstacles preventing Ripple’s native token from launching a new bull run.

The US lawyer Bill Morgan shared a similar thesis, warning the community that the continued uncertainty about the case’s outcome may “exert a negative pressure” on XRP.

Currently, the asset’s price is hovering around $2.25 (per CoinGecko’s data), a 33% decline from the local top of almost $3.40 registered in mid-January. 

The post Ripple v. SEC Lawsuit Speculation: Can This Key Development Lead to a Resolution? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The US Senate has passed a resolution to repeal a Biden-era rule that would require decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The Senate voted 70 to 27 on March 4 to approve a motion to repeal the rule that would expand existing IRS reporting requirements to include decentralized exchanges and require brokers to disclose gross proceeds from crypto sales, including information regarding taxpayers involved in the transactions.

The resolution now moves to the House, where it will need to be passed before being sent to President Donald Trump. The White House’s AI and crypto czar David Sacks has said Trump supports killing the rule.

It follows a similar effort by House lawmakers, who advanced a resolution to repeal the rule on Feb. 26, which has yet to be voted on.

Eli Cohen, general counsel of the RWA tokenizing platform Centrifuge, said in a statement to Cointelegraph that the rule never made “any sense and was unworkable in practice.”

Still, given that it never went into force, all the requirements haven’t changed, he added.

“It just means that the taxpayer needs to report directly to the IRS without an intermediary taking on this obligation,” Cohen said.

Kristin Smith, CEO of the crypto advocacy group The Blockchain Association, said in a March 4 post on X that it was a big day for “DeFi – and the US crypto industry.”

“The effort to repeal this rule should be seen as part of a broader move to keep crypto in the US,” she said.

Related: Timeline: Trump’s first 30 days bring remarkable change for crypto

“DeFi is an American strategic strength, and today’s action helps ensure it will continue to develop on home soil,” Smith added.

Smith said this is the most pro-crypto Congress to date, and the resolution passing through the Senate was the first time the sentiment had been converted into action.

“This bodes well for the efforts to design and pass stablecoin and market structure legislation,” Smith said.

Magazine: Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-senate-passes-resolution-to-kill-unworkable-irs-defi-broker-rule/feed/ 0 23321 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ripple-negotiating-hard-lawyer-thinks-its-causing-secs-case-resolution/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ripple-negotiating-hard-lawyer-thinks-its-causing-secs-case-resolution/#respond Mon, 03 Mar 2025 11:05:45 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ripple-negotiating-hard-lawyer-thinks-its-causing-secs-case-resolution/

Lawyer James “MetaLawMan” Murphy of Ludlow Street Advisors, LLC has provided a detailed theory on why the SEC’s dismissal of the Ripple case has been inexplicably delayed. According to Murphy, rather than the delay being solely due to the SEC’s internal processes, it could be that Ripple is engaged in strenuous negotiations aimed at revising key components of Judge Torres’ ruling.

Ripple, Not SEC, Might Be Stalling Case Resolution

Murphy explained that while Judge Torres’ decision was undoubtedly beneficial for XRP holders—particularly regarding aspects that positively impact market sentiment—the decision also contained elements that could jeopardize the company’s future strategic moves. “The Torres decision was unquestionably GREAT for XRP holders, BUT the finding of securities law violations and the injunction with attendant ‘bad boy’ provisions are not so great for Ripple,” Murphy stated via X.

He further speculated that if Ripple is considering a future exempt securities offering or an IPO, the current judgment would represent a significant operational and reputational hurdle. He continued, “I believe the SEC would have accepted a settlement—where both sides dismiss their appeals and the SEC takes the $125 million penalty—in a heartbeat. So, it makes sense that Ripple could be negotiating for a better deal than that.” Although he acknowledges the speculative nature of his theory, Murphy’s comments offer a glimpse into the complex legal maneuvers potentially at play.

Complementing Murphy’s perspective, pro-XRP lawyer Jeremy Hogan delved into the intricate legal process of dissolving the injunction imposed by Judge Torres. Hogan pointed out that the court’s order effectively bars Ripple from making direct sales to customers—a restriction that Ripple would undoubtedly prefer to eliminate.

“Ripple would rather not have the injunction at all,” Hogan remarked. He drew an analogy between the legal process and personal restraining orders, emphasizing that “once a court issues an injunction, the parties themselves can’t simply agree between them to disregard the injunction.” He further illustrated the point with a vivid comparison: many individuals have faced legal consequences for assuming that a restraining order could be casually ignored when personal relationships improved.

Hogan’s analysis extended into the procedural challenges that both Ripple and the SEC must navigate in order to modify the existing court order. He elaborated on the role of Federal Rule 60, which governs “relief from a judgment,” noting that any motion to vacate the injunction must convincingly demonstrate a significant change in circumstances.

“The court based its decision on the Howey test, not on the SEC’s rule changes, and the SEC cannot ‘Trump’ US Supreme Court law,” Hogan explained. This point underscores the rigidity of legal precedent in securities law, which complicates any attempt by Ripple to negotiate a rollback of the injunction solely on the basis of evolving regulatory standards.

Ripple would first need to convince the SEC to sign off on a carefully drafted motion that seeks to dissolve the injunction. Following this, both parties would have to stipulate to dismiss their appeals, and then the trial court would need to rule favorably on the motion. Hogan suggested that “this is why I think the case doesn’t resolve until April-May whereas all these other cases have already been dismissed.” He also left open the possibility that if the motion is crafted and executed with exceptional care, the appeals might be dismissed even earlier—potentially in April, before Ripple’s brief due date.

At press time, XRP traded at $

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