Judge Torres Expected to Dismiss $2 Billion Fine

Legal veteran MetaLawMan has ignited excitement in the Ripple ecosystem with predictions on the SEC case.
He believes the regulators’ demand of $2 billion in fines might be tossed out.

James Murphy, a pro-XRP lawyer known as MetaLawMan has hinted that Judge Torres could throw out the SEC’s $2 billion fine against Ripple Labs Inc. This is promising news for XRP because many had earlier forecasted that the fine could cripple the cryptocurrency.

The XRP Lawyer’s Argument

Murphy began his argument by stating that the SEC’s Reply Brief submitted earlier this week adds nothing substantive to the discourse over no victims/no disgorgement.

Murphy’s argument hinges on the SEC’s claim of investor harm. The SEC alleges that institutional investors who bought XRP at a discount were ripped financially due to the inflated price. Murphy, however, throws shade on this argument, suggesting the SEC might be misreading a legal precedent.

He questions the validity of the SEC’s cited cases, particularly SEC v iFresh, which carries limited weight due to its unpublished status. Murphy highlighted that this potential misstep by the SEC could lead Judge Torres to dismiss their motion for disgorgement.

“iFresh decision is a misreading of the 2nd Circuit holding in Govil on disgorgement,” Murphy stated.

He emphasized the importance of proper legal citations, hinting that the judge might take issue with the SEC’s shaky foundation by citing a material designated as “NOT FOR ELECTRONIC OR PRINT PUBLICATION.”

Attorney Jeremy Hogan, another voice familiar to XRP holders, agrees that the SEC’s reliance on unpublished cases is a potential error. He noted the importance of proper legal procedure and hoped the judge would recognize this oversight.

As a reminder, the ongoing case between Ripple Labs Inc. and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) centers around the sales of XRP. Per Crypto News Flash’s earlier announcement, the SEC alleges that Ripple sold XRP as unregistered securities and thus demanded a fine of $2 billion.

The regulator contends that an injunction is required to prevent future breaches since Ripple intends to distribute more unregistered crypto assets under its new organizational structure.

Is the End Near for the Ripple vs SEC Case?

Aside from the likely rejection of the fine, speculations abound regarding a timeframe for the conclusion of the Ripple vs SEC case. Crypto influencer CryptoGeek claims a settlement between Ripple and the SEC could be on the horizon, with a final court brief set for release by May 20.

However, legal veteran Marc Fargel says it could take the court a month or two to reach a final decision, according to a prior report by Crypto News Flash.

In the meantime, Ripple is not relenting in its ongoing crypto development. Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, recently hinted at the potential launch of the firm’s stablecoin. As Crypto News Flash had earlier detailed, this initiative aligns with Ripple’s projection of the stablecoin market value reaching $3 trillion by 2028.

At the time of this writing, XRP is trading at $0.5143, down 1.78% with market capitalization and trading volume pegged at $28.4 billion and $1 billion respectively.