XRP’s legal director makes a statement – “The ball is in our court now.”

Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York rejected the joint request of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Ripple, and refused to lift a permanent injunction to the dispute.

Judge Torres cited the SEC’s past view that Ripple continues to violate the law in today’s court decision. “That hasn’t changed, and neither party claims that it is. Nevertheless, they demand that fines be reduced by 60%, and end the permanent injunction be lifted, and cite the public interest,” Torres said.

The parties requested that the $75 million fine be returned to the SEC and the remaining $25 million to Ripple if the permanent injunction imposed on Ripple was lifted.

The SEC and Ripple lawsuit began in 2020. The SEC accused them of raising $1.3 billion through unregistered securities sales. In July 2023, Judge Torres determined that “program sales” of XRP to individual investors were not securities, but direct sales to institutional investors. The ruling resulted in a $125 million fine for Ripple.

In March, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the case had effectively ended, and the SEC rescinded the appeal. However, the final stage of the case focused on reassessing the amount of penalty imposed.

The parties had requested a reduction in penalty by citing SEC changes to their approach to cryptocurrency in the new period. With the departure of SEC Chairman Gary Jensler, who took office during his Biden era in January, the agency ended its investigations and litigation against many crypto companies and began working to develop a regulatory framework by establishing a cryptocurrency task force.

However, Judge Torres said, “The parties cannot avoid binding the court’s decision by mutual agreement. In such cases, they must show an unusual situation for the benefit of the public interest and justice. This is not the case.”

The SEC did not comment on the issue, but Ripple Legal Director Stuart Aldeoty said in a statement on social media platform X that “the ball is currently on our court.” Aldeoty said the court “gives two options to either withdraw the appeal of previous institutional sales findings or continue the appeal.” He said the decision that XRP is not security has not changed.

*This is not investment advice.