XRP Lawsuit: Legal expert suggests Ripple, not SEC, may be stalling settlement over IPO plans

Lawyer James Murphy, known as MetaLawMan on the X platform, hinted that Ripple may be stalling its settlement with the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) in the XRP lawsuit.

So far, since the commission got a new lead, it has dropped a number of high-profile cases, but surprisingly, the XRP lawsuit is still ongoing with no clear end in sight.

Murphy believes Ripple is still negotiating with the commission to agree to vacate some or all of Judge Analisa Torres’s previous decisions, hence the delays.

Murphy believes the SEC is open to a settlement with Ripple

Murphy believes Judge Torres’ decision was “unquestionably great” for XRP holders. However, Torres did find the crypto firm guilty of violating the securities law and even passed along injunctions with attendant ‘bad boy’ provisions, which were not particularly favorable for the exchange.

If Ripple plans to have a future exempt securities offering or Initial Public Offering (IPO), the court’s ruling that it violated the securities law would be a big obstacle to those plans.

Murphy stated that it’s highly possible that Ripple may be dragging out the lawsuit to try and buy more time to negotiate a better deal with the SEC. A better deal, in his opinion, is Ripple convincing the SEC to vacate some or all of Torres’ ruling. 

He further pointed out that he thinks the commission would have no problem agreeing to a settlement in which both parties dismiss their appeals and Ripple pays off its $125 million penalty. He believes Ripple is the one stalling, not the SEC. 

The lawyer had earlier projected that the XRP lawsuit would take longer to conclude than other crypto cases due to the complexities involved in reaching a settlement. However, he now expects the case to end before April 16, the final date for Ripple to file its brief in the appeal.

Rispoli believes the SEC is delaying the settlement, contrary to Murphy

Lawyer Fred Rispoli seems to think differently from his counterpart, believing the SEC is delaying the settlement. Rispoli has stated before that the case dismissal is very much possible, seeing how other major cases like the Coinbase one have been dropped. 

According to him, acting Chair Mark Uyeda and Commissioner Hester Peirce are hesitating to take responsibility for modifying Ripple’s $125 million penalty.

In an X post on February 25, he commented: “My best guess is that, given the $125M judgment, that is real money that Uyeda and Pierce do not want to have responsibility for modifying. Not a great excuse (shows cowardice), but it does make some sense. The case is over regardless, either now or in a few months.”

Rispoli also argued that the easiest solution to the Ripple vs. SEC case is for both parties to withdraw their appeals and for Ripple to drop its claim that the $125 million is excessive and pay it.

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