The US Securities and Exchange Commission is now appealing the recent ruling of a federal court regarding its settlement agreement with Ripple, with the crypto company only fined $125 million. This figure is significantly lower than what the SEC recommended to the court for Ripple to pay for its alleged defrauding of investors and selling unregistered securities.
With this move by the SEC, it is facing criticisms from the online world, including Ripple's CEO, saying that the Commission is not moving on from the issue despite the court already ruling on the case.
SEC Appeals Ripple's $125M Fine in Settlement Agreement
The SEC has filed for an appeal against the ruling of a Southern District of New York federal judge which gave Ripple Labs a $125 million fine as part of the settlement agreement of its recent fraud case. It is known that the SEC previously recommended a significantly higher monetary fine for the crypto exchange platform amounting to a whopping $2 billion, and the declared fine was only a fraction of it.
Since the SEC declared that it is filing an appeal, Ripple Labs' XRP cryptocurrency saw a crash, with as much as an 11 percent drop faced in the market.
The appeal to the US Second Circuit is now seeing the SEC making their case against Ripple for its alleged crimes including defrauding investors with its alleged unregistered security, XRP.
Ripple is Not Backing Down from the SEC
Despite the turnout of events for the company, Ripple Labs' CEO Brad Garlinghouse claimed that they are not backing down against the Commission. This recent move by the SEC was regarded by Garlinghouse as a move that has not "protected investors," further claiming that it only further "damaged the credibility and reputation of the SEC."
The Ripple CEO also claimed that XRP was already declared a non-security in court. Furthermore, Ripple's chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, also shared that because of this "litigation warfare" by the SEC against the crypto industry, the company is looking into filing a cross-appeal.
SEC and Ripple's Fraud Case
The SEC has recently been relentless in its pursuit of crypto companies who have been 'illegally' trading their cryptocurrencies without securing the proper licenses needed for them to be classified as securities. Ripple and The SEC's case stems back to 2020 when the federal agency filed a lawsuit against the crypto company for 'illegally' selling its XRP token, but Ripple is known for fighting back.
In the past years, the Commission has been criticized for its significant campaigns against the cryptocurrency industry, going against the many crypto exchange platforms operating in the country. A former federal prosecutor previously regarded that the SEC "will stop at nothing" to take control of the entire cryptocurrency industry, and this was amidst its fight against Ripple Labs.
Companies like Binance and FTX were among those who were proven to be in the wrong for their management and operations of their crypto exchange platforms, but some are defending themselves against the SEC. The likes of Coinbase and Ripple Labs are known for standing up against the Commission for their claims of illegal operations and unregistered securities.
