Former SEC official Marc Fagel has revealed that Ripple has settled the monetary judgment in the XRP lawsuit. This revelation comes as the crypto firm seeks to put the legal battle behind it and focus on expanding its operations.
Ripple Paid $125 Million Fine to the SEC in Cash
In an X post, Marc Fagel revealed that Ripple had already paid the $125 million to the Commission. His statement came amid a discussion about the crypto firm possibly paying the monetary judgment in XRP. However, the former SEC official debunked the idea of that happening, given that the crypto firm had already paid the sum in cash.
Related Reading: Ripple Vs. SEC: Former SEC Lawyer Reveals What Is Holding Back The Lawsuit
XRP community member Savant had posited that the US was selling its Bitcoin holdings to set the stage for Ripple to pay the $125 million fine in XRP, so that it then goes into the reserve. However, that is unlikely to be the case. As Fagel noted, the court ordered the crypto firm to pay, which it had already done by placing the money in escrow at the time both parties filed their respective appeals.
Fagel remarked that once the parties drop their appeals, which appears to be soon, the court order will go into effect, and the fine will go to the SEC. Meanwhile, he noted that the Commission would never agree to accept the penalty in XRP. Even if the agency did, it would need to be in a court order.
It is worth noting that Ripple has already announced its decision to drop the cross-appeal against the SEC. Meanwhile, the Commission is expected to do so. Once the Commissioners vote to do so, both parties will file a motion to dismiss the appeal case, which will ultimately end the XRP lawsuit.
Timeline For SEC’s Decision Hangs In The Balance
Fagel suggested that it is hard to predict when exactly the SEC could decide to drop its appeal against Ripple. He noted that it typically takes one to two months for the Commission to vote on an enforcement recommendation. However, he admitted that it is hard to estimate since he doesn’t know how long the SEC staff recommended dismissal after Judge Torres refused to grant an indicative ruling.
The former SEC official also noted that some get expedited. As such, the XRP lawsuit could be one of those cases. The Commission has already shown its willingness to end the lawsuit as soon as possible, having reached a settlement agreement with the crypto firm. Under the agreement, the agency agreed to collect only $50 million of the fine, as opposed to the $125 million.
At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $3.6, up over 17% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
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