The post Former SEC Official Clarifies How Ripple Prolonged the XRP Lawsuit appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

A former SEC official has clarified that Ripple, not the Commission, was the driving force behind this year’s prolonged appeals process. The general public perception was that the SEC was dragging its feet.  Now, with both sides moving to end litigation, the final resolution is likely close.  Ripple and the SEC in Court The Ripple vs SEC case was a landmark crypto enforcement action, and it ostensibly should’ve ended in March. However, a lingering cross-appeal and attempted settlement stayed in the news for months. Marc Fagel, a former SEC regional director and longtime securities litigator, addressed growing speculation on X (formerly Twitter) by explaining that Ripple initiated a failed attempt to renegotiate the court’s remedies.  The firm sought to vacate an injunction and reduce its $125 million penalty. However, the judge rejected these terms outright. “The parties originally tried to settle the case on terms that made dismissing the appeals contingent on the court vacating the injunction and reducing the penalty,” Fagel wrote. “The court refused. So they had to restart the process.” Essentially, the SEC under Gary Gensler forbade Ripple from selling securities to non-institutional investors. Now that the Commission is under new management, the firm attempted to remove this prohibition. This process led to months of continued litigation and court appearances, only wrapping up in late June. In hindsight, a few pieces of circumstantial evidence support these claims. For example, two weeks before Ripple and the SEC closed the cross-appeal, they filed a joint request to continue the court process. At the time, legal observers noted that the filing seemed half-hearted, failing to address the judge’s key concerns. This may have signified diminishing investment in the battle. Clarifying the Gensler-Era Injunction The core issue this year comes from a Gensler-era injunction barring Ripple from conducting institutional sales of…

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Filed under: News - @ August 5, 2025 10:20 pm