The lawsuit between Ripple and SEC has been going on for nearly four years. During this time, the case has reached several pivotal points which has been interpreted as a victory for each party. Some of the key moment reached was the declaration of XRP as non-security in July 2023, and the ruling that concluded the institutional sales of XRP as security in August 2024.
While the former was a significant victory for Ripple Labs, the latter was perceived as a win for the SEC since the Judge imposed a $125 million civil penalty on the blockchain company. However, the monetary fine has brought a wave of confusion among XRP community members with some misinterpreting it as a “settlement fee,” leading to a debate on social media.
No Such Thing as a “Settlement Fee”
In a recent post on X, Uphold cryptocurrency exchange posed a question to its users asking them to name a cryptocurrency that could either double in value or crash to $0 in the next 12 hours. While some users mentioned coins like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and PNUT, the majority of the responses mentioned XRP.
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Particularly, one user, ‘Fintech Portal,’ mentioned XRP, with reasons that everybody expects the SEC to drop its case against Ripple which could trigger an exponential movement and double the coin’s price. He noted, however, that the reverse could be the case if the legal battle continues.
Another user ‘Lomond Crypto,’ tried to counter this view by dropping a rather misguided comment about the current position in the Ripple and SEC case. According to him, the lawsuit is currently centered around the $125 million “settlement fee” imposed on Ripple by the court, and that the SEC wants more than $125 million.
Prominent legal expert Marc Fagel quickly joined the conversation, correcting the false notion presented by Lomong. Fagel noted that the SEC appeal has nothing to do with the penalty imposed by the court, and that “there’s no such thing as a “settlement fee.”
He emphasized that the SEC is appealing the programmatic sales of XRP on digital exchanges, and Ripple is cross-appealing its institutional XRP sales. It is also important to note that the SEC is not challenging XRP’s status and a stay was requested for the monetary penalty by Ripple.
XRP Price Remains Above $1 as Gensler’s Resignation Rumor Grows
Meanwhile, XRP has been feeding off the rumor of Gary Gensler’s resignation. The XRPL native token has surged by an unprecedented $102% in the last seven days according to data from CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, the coin is changing hands at $1.10, representing a 5% increase in the last 24 hours.
Source: CoinMarketCap
In a regulatory conference last weekend, Gensler’s closing remark was interpreted as hinting at resignation because of the tone of the speech. Gensler thanked his staff, adding that it has been a pleasure working with them over the years and that his time as the SEC chairman has been an “honor.” This quickly raised speculations across the crypto community as the majority of the members expressed excitement over the likelihood of it happening.
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