Judge Rejects Ripple SEC Settlement Motion

Judge Analisa Torres’s decision to reject the joint motion from Ripple and the SEC has sparked a flurry of interpretations and reactions within the legal and crypto communities. Crypto analyst CasiTrades initially suggested that the decision was merely a procedural delay, with Judge Torres opting to wait until the appeal’s conclusion without making any legal changes. However, this interpretation was swiftly challenged by Attorney Bill Morgan, who clarified that the ruling was not just a routine delay but a firm rejection of the proposed settlement terms.

Morgan emphasized that Judge Torres had already ruled on penalties in her earlier final judgment from August 2024. He pointed out that the court’s decision was not about deferring penalties but about refusing to modify them. The settlement process, which involved renegotiating the $125 million penalty to $50 million and removing the injunction, is now closed at the district court level. The court’s message was clear: unless Ripple and the SEC pursue further appeals or withdraw them entirely, the judgment stands. This ruling formally ends the current attempt at resolving those penalty terms outside of the appellate process.

While CasiTrades highlighted that XRP’s legal status remains unchanged and that no new penalties were introduced, Morgan argued that this perspective misses the core issue. Judge Torres made it clear that the court would not alter a final judgment simply because both parties requested it, and they did not provide the exceptional circumstances required for such a ruling. Morgan’s view underscores that the decision was final regarding the proposed changes to penalties and injunctions, not procedural.

Judge Torres’ rejection of the joint motion came as a surprise to many market participants, as experts had expressed confidence that she would grant the motion. Ripple and the SEC now face two paths forward: they can proceed with their appeals to challenge the parts of the judgment they dispute, or they can drop the appeals and accept the court’s existing ruling. There is no open-ended settlement discussion left on penalties or injunctions within the district court. This development marks a significant turning point in the legal battle between Ripple and the SEC, with implications for the broader crypto industry.