U.S. Court Rejects SEC and Ripple's Request for $125 Million Fine Reduction

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has denied the request for an 'indicative ruling' jointly filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple, which included a proposal to reduce a $125 million civil fine by 60% and to overturn the previous ruling that XRP's institutional sales constituted securities transactions.

Judge Analisa Torres stated that the court would not overturn the earlier ruling made under federal securities law. She wrote, 'Ripple is clearly intent on challenging the boundaries of the ruling, indicating a tendency that they may have overstepped. Now they claim that the fine should be significantly reduced and the injunction lifted on the grounds of public interest.'

The court noted that any requests to modify the fine or overturn the ruling must go through the appeal process established by Congress, rather than being directly submitted to the district court.

Although the SEC withdrew its appeal against Ripple on March 19 and stated it would seek a settlement, the court still upheld the original ruling. According to the motion for settlement, $50 million of the $125 million in escrow will be paid to the SEC as a discounted fine, and the remaining $75 million will be returned to Ripple, pending court approval.

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