A federal judge has ordered Ripple Labs to pay a $125 million civil penalty and said the company is “permanently enjoined and barred” from violating U.S. securities laws in a case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a new filing released this morning (August 8) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Analisa Torres determined that Ripple is liable for more than $125 million in fines, which the company is expected to pay to the SEC within 30 days. The decision comes after competing moves between Ripple and the SEC, with the two sides arguing that the company should pay the maximum civil penalty of $10 million or $2 billion, respectively.

“Based on the Court’s independent analysis of Ripple’s expert report summarizing the relevant contracts […] the Court determines that 1,278 transactions violated Section 5, resulting in a civil penalty of $125,035,150,” the filing reads.

Regarding the injunction preventing Ripple from violating securities laws in the future, Judge Torres said that the company’s sales after the SEC complaint was filed may not have violated federal law, but “there is a reasonable likelihood that a violation will occur in the future.”

“The Court finds that Ripple’s willingness to push the boundaries of the Order demonstrates the likelihood that the company will eventually (if not already) cross the boundaries,” Judge Torres said.

“A win for Ripple”

In a post on X shortly afterward, CEO Brad Garlinghouse called the ruling a “win for Ripple, the industry, and the rule of law” as the court reduced the SEC’s proposed fine by 94%. Ripple’s chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty said the company would “respect the $125 million penalty.”

“We respect the Court’s decision and have the clarity to move forward with our company,” Garlinghouse said. “The SEC’s obstruction to the entire XRP community is gone.”

The ruling appears to bring Ripple’s case with the SEC to a close since the regulator initially filed the lawsuit in December 2020. At the time, the SEC alleged that Ripple used XRP as an unregistered security to raise capital. In July 2023, Judge Torres ruled that XRP tokens were not securities in connection with programmatic sales on exchanges.

The SEC initially targeted CEO Garlinghouse and Ripple Executive Chairman Chris Larsen in the same lawsuit before the commission decided to withdraw all complaints in 2023.

As a result, the price of XRP increased by more than 20% after the news was announced. It is currently the only major cryptocurrency to gain today, up 20.9% in 24 hours and is trading at $0.6104.

Source: https://tapchibitcoin.io/ripple-thang-lon-voi-muc-phat-125-trieu.html