SEC plans to ask judge for $2 billion in fines and penalties from Ripple Labs

Policy • March 25, 2024, 3:36PM EDT

Published 1 minute earlier on

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The filings, which Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty said will be made public on Tuesday, continue the company’s years-long case with the SEC.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking for a New York judge for $2 billion in fines and penalties in its case against Ripple Labs Inc., according to the firm's chief legal officer.

The filings, which Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty said will be made public on Tuesday, are part of the continuing saga of its years-long case with the SEC.

"Our response will be filed next month, but as we all have seen time and again, this is a regulator that trades in statements that are false, mischaracterized and designed to mislead," Alderoty posted on X on Monday. "They stayed true to form here. Rather than faithfully apply the law, the SEC remains bent on wanting to punish and intimidate Ripple - and the industry at large."

The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Court documents filed by the agency appear to be under seal. The Block also reached out to Ripple for additional comments but did not immediately hear back.

The SEC and Ripple have been embroiled in a legal fight since 2020 when the agency accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP +3.65% , which it says is an unregistered security. Last year, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that some of Ripple’s sales, called programmatic, of XRP did not violate securities laws because of a blind bid process in place for them. She did, however, rule that other direct sales of the token to institutional investors were securities.

RT Watson contributed reporting

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Sarah is a reporter at The Block covering policy, regulation and legal happenings. Before, Sarah was a reporter with CQ Legal writing about securities regulation, which is where she first started reporting on crypto. Sarah has also written for The Bond Buyer and American Banker, among other finance-related publications. She graduated from the University of Missouri and earned a degree in print and digital journalism. Sarah is based in Washington D.C., and is an avid coffee lover. You can follow her on Twitter @ForTheWynn.