The block reported that Ripple Labs, embroiled in a long-standing legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), strongly opposed the SEC’s request for a $20 billion fine in court documents on Thursday. Citing the judgment of the Terraform settlement case on Wednesday, Ripple Labs argued that a fine of no more than $10 million would be more reasonable.
According to Ripple Labs’ “Notice of Supplemental Authority” submitted yesterday (13), the company compared the SEC’s proposed $20 billion fine with the $45 billion fine imposed on Terraform Labs and expressed its opposition.
The SEC’s handling of the Terraform case and the final civil penalty imposed suggest that the civil penalty sought by the SEC against Ripple is quite unreasonable.
The document stated that even though Terraform Labs and its CEO Do Kwon caused global investors to lose over $40 billion, they faced only a civil penalty of around $45 billion.
Previously, lawyers for Terraform and Do Kwon had negotiated with the SEC over the claimed $53 billion civil penalty, arguing that a maximum of $1 million should be imposed.
Ripple’s lawyers stated that in similar cases, SEC fines typically range from 0.6% to 1.8% of the defendant’s total revenue. Given that Ripple raised $1.3 billion in revenue through the sale of XRP, they suggested a more reasonable fine for Ripple of up to $10 million.
The lawyers also pointed out that Terraform and its founder Do Kwon were accused of civil fraud, while Ripple had no fraud-related charges and institutional investors did not suffer any losses as a result.
Legal expert Bill Morgan agreed, stating that the SEC’s penalty request against Ripple was baseless. With the litigation between the SEC and Ripple entering its fourth year, the SEC submitted its final rebuttal in the lawsuit remediation phase last month and may set a precedent for the handling of cryptocurrency under U.S. securities law in September.
Despite the years of litigation, Ripple continues to develop new products and expand its business, including acquiring digital asset custodian Standard Custody and launching a new stablecoin, $RLUSD.
Do Kwon
Ripple
SEC
Terraform Labs
civil penalty