SEC Appeals Court Decision Ordering Ripple Labs to Pay $125 Million Civil Penalty

- The US Securities and Exchange Commission appealed a court decision ordering Ripple Labs Inc. to pay a $125 million civil penalty for improperly selling its XRP token, a fraction of the $2 billion the regulator sought in a long legal battle with the cryptocurrency company.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday appealed a court decision that ordered Ripple Labs Inc to pay a $125 million civil penalty for improperly selling its XRP token, a fraction of the $2 billion the regulator sought in a long legal battle with the cryptocurrency company.

Ripple Labs was sued in 2020 by the SEC, which claimed the company broke the law when it raised money by selling the digital token without registering it as a security. The case has been closely watched because of its implications for the SEC’s regulatory power over crypto.

Last year, US District Judge Analisa Torres found XRP was covered by securities law only when sold to institutional investors, a ruling hailed as a major victory for the industry. The SEC, led by Chair Gary Gensler, has several major cases against crypto exchanges and issuers, accusing them of offering unregistered securities.

Torres in August issued an injunction barring Ripple from committing further violations of securities laws. But she denied the SEC’s bid for Ripple to disgorge profits from its sales. The regulator had sought more than $876 million in disgorgement and more than $198 million in interest, along with an $876 million civil penalty. Ripple argued it shouldn’t have to pay more than $10 million.

“If Gensler and the SEC were rational, they would have moved on from this case long ago,” Ripple Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse said in a post on X.com. “It certainly hasn’t protected investors and instead has damaged the credibility and reputation of the SEC. Somehow, they still haven’t gotten the message: they lost on everything that matters. Ripple, the crypto industry, and the rule of law have already prevailed.”

The SEC, in a statement, said “the district court decision in the Ripple matter conflicts with decades of Supreme Court precedent and securities laws.”

The case is SEC v. Ripple Labs Inc., 20-cv-10832, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

(Updates with SEC statement.)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

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