XRP Lawsuit: CLO Stuart Alderoty Explains Why Ripple To Pay No More Than $10M To SEC

XRP Lawsuit: Ripple Labs has filed its opposition to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) motion for remedies and entry of final judgment, refusing the $876,308,712 in disgorgement and $198,150,940 in prejudgment interest requested by the SEC. However, Ripple agrees to pay a maximum penalty of $10 million instead of a $876,308,712 civil penalty alleged by the SEC.

US SEC v. Ripple Lawsuit Nears End?

In a court filing on April 22, Ripple disagreed with arguments and fines set forth by the U.S. SEC in its remedies-related briefing. Ripple agreed to pay civil penalties as the court ruled that the company violated Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 for offering XRP under institutional investment contracts.

Notably, Ripple presented three arguments:

1. The SEC has failed to establish a likelihood of violations in the future and reckless disregard for the law in institutional sales by Ripple.
2. Govil case bars disgorgement because the SEC cannot show pecuniary harm and Ripple’s legitimate business expenses be deducted from any disgorgement.
3. Civil penalty should not exceed $10 million based on the SEC’s weak arguments and fines in other digital asset cases.

Ripple told the court that the company has changed the way it sells XRP, obtained licenses to sell XRP outside the U.S., and changed its contracts to avoid issues, as per the court’s direction. However, Ripple disagreed with the SEC’s remedial requests, an evidence of administrative overreach, to issue an injection based on mere speculation that Ripple may break the laws in the future.

Along with its opposition brief, Ripple also filed supporting declarations and exhibits on proof of the company’s compliance and licenses to sell XRP in other jurisdictions.

On May 6, the SEC to file its reply brief under seal. Furthermore, parties and third parties are to file letter motions and opposition related to sealing details in the filings until May 20.

Also Read: Ripple v SEC News – Lawyers Reveal Appeal, Settlement, Fine Aspects in XRP Lawsuit

Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty on the SEC’s Flawed Filing

U.S. SEC seeks final judgment against Ripple to pay $876,308,712 in disgorgement, $198,150,940 in prejudgment interest, and $876,308,712 civil penalty.

Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty claims the SEC’s case had no allegations or finding of recklessness or fraud, remaining confident that Judge Torres will proceed and rule this final remedies phase fairly.

“Our opposition to the SEC’s request for $2B in penalties for legacy institutional sales is now public. In a case that had no allegations (or findings) of recklessness or fraud, and in which Ripple won on significant issues, the SEC’s ask is just more evidence of its ongoing intimidation against all of crypto in the U.S.,” he said.

XRP Price Moving Towards $0.60

XRP price trades over $0.55, up nearly 3% in the last 24 hours and 9% in a week. The 24-hour high is $0.569, with a trading volume rising more than 46%. As CoinGape predicted, any positive developments in the lawsuit can push prices to at least over $0.55.

XRP futures OI fell below 1 billion XRP after a jump in the last 2 days. There’s been a lot of buying and selling of XRP by derivatives trading in the past 2 days, keeping XRP futures OI in a range of 1.01 billion to 1.06 billion. CoinGape’s target price for XRP this week is at least $0.60, but traders must do their due diligence to mitigate risks.

Also Read: SEC Seeks $5.2B Penalties from Terraform and Do Kwon