Great news for Ripple (XRP) holders!!!
Ripple's effort to reach a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was halted because a federal judge said their joint request was not properly filed.
The judge's decision came from Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 15. Attorney James Filan shared the news on X and posted the court documents. He noted that Judge Torres rejected the parties' request for a indicative ruling. The request was seen as 'procedurally inappropriate' because it was not filed under Rule 60, which requires proof of special circumstances to change a final judgment.
The rejected request, made on May 8, sought to lift a restraining order and reduce a civil fine from $125 million to $50 million. Both Ripple and the SEC had agreed to this deal to help resolve the case during ongoing appeals. However, the judge's decision blocks that plan unless the request is properly submitted.
Ripple's legal chief, Stuart Alderoty, informed the crypto community that the court's denial does not change the company's previous legal victories, including the 2023 ruling that stated XRP is not a security in programmatic sales.
"This is about procedural issues with Ripple's cross-appeal dismissal," posted on X, emphasizing that Ripple and the SEC want to resolve the case.
The SEC sued Ripple in 2020 for allegedly selling XRP as an unregistered security, leading to a long legal battle. However, it was ruled that retail sales did not violate securities laws.
The delay has impacted market sentiment. XRP fell approximately 7% in the last day, while data shows a 9.4% decrease in open interest to $4.93 billion. After the court ruling, traders liquidated long positions worth over $21 million. Traders are now closely watching to see Ripple's next move as it tests support at 2.