SEC seeks $2 billion in fines and penalties – Ripple’s chief legal officer

Ripple Labs Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderotti has asked a federal judge to order the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay a $2-billion fine against the blockchain company.

In a March 25 X post, Alderoty asked an SEC judge to impose $2 billion in fines and penalties against Ripple under seal until March 26.

“Instead of faithfully enforcing the law, the SEC wants to punish and intimidate Ripple — and the industry as a whole,” Alderoty said. “We believe that the court will look at the solutions fairly.”

Ripple's chief legal officer said the firm plans to respond to the SEC's request in April, but the regulator said it “trades false, misleading and misleading statements.” On March 18, a Utah judge imposed sanctions on the SEC over its “bad faith” filing of the action box.

Referring to the $2-billion fine, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on X, “There is no precedent for this.” “As we respond to this, we will continue to expose the SEC for what they are.”

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Filed by the SEC in December 2020, the regulator's lawsuit against Ripple, Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen alleges the company raised $1.3 billion in unregistered securities through the sale of XRP tokens. In the year In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security for programmatic sales on digital asset exchanges.

The ruling contributed to the SEC's October 2023 denial of prejudice against Garlinghouse and Larson. The regulator has ongoing civil lawsuits against crypto companies in the United States, including Coinbase, Binance and Kraken.

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