Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) tried to settle their long-running legal battle with a revised agreement.The new deal would have lowered Ripple’s penalty from $125 million to $50 million and removed restrictions that prevented Ripple from doing certain business activities in the future.
But on May 15, the judge in the case, Analisa Torres, rejected that proposal. Why? Not just because of a small paperwork mistake, but because there were deeper legal issues with how they tried to change a final court decision. A former SEC attorney, Marc Fagel, explained that the judge made it clear: if they want the court to change its mind, they’ll need to present a much stronger legal case.
So where does that leave things?
The $125 million fine is still in place.
The restrictions on Ripple’s future actions are still active.
The case is still technically open.
There’s also been no updated filing from Ripple and the SEC since the judge’s decision over a week ago, which has left many in the XRP community frustrated and wondering what’s next.
In short: Ripple’s not out of options, but the road to a settlement just got a lot bumpier.
