The
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
(SEC)
is
apparently
asking
a
New
York
judge
to
levy
a
$2
billion
judgment
against
Ripple
Labs,
according
to
social
media
posts
from
the
crypto
company’s
CEO
and
chief
legal
officer
on
Monday.
The
SEC’s
motion
for
judgment
and
remedies,
filed
on
Friday,
remains
under
seal
to
outside
parties.
According
to
Stuart
Alderoty,
Ripple
Labs’
chief
legal
officer,
redacted
versions
of
the
documents
will
be
publicly
available
by
Tuesday,
March
26.
The
judgment
would
bring
an
end
to
this
phase
of
the
multi-year
legal
battle
between
Ripple
Labs
and
the
SEC,
which
began
in
December
2020
when
the
SEC
filed
suit
against
the
crypto
firm
and
its
executives,
alleging
that
they
violated
federal
securities
laws
by
selling
XRP
to
both
institutional
and
retail
customers.
When
it
was
filed,
the
action
led
to
the
widespread
delisting
or
trading
suspension
of
XRP
from
U.S.
exchanges.
A
federal
judge
ruled
last
year
that
Ripple
violated
federal
securities
laws
in
directly
selling
XRP
to
institutional
investors,
though
not
in
selling
XRP
to
retail
investors
through
exchanges.
Brad
Garlinghouse,
Ripple
Labs’
CEO,
suggested
in
his
X
(formerly
Twitter)
post
that
the
company
will
fight
back
against
the
proposed
judgement
motion.
“The
SEC
plans
to
ask
the
Judge
for
$2B
in
a
case
that
involved
no
allegations
(let
alone
findings)
of
fraud
or
recklessness,”
Garlinghouse
wrote.
“There
is
absolutely
no
precedent
for
this.
We
will
continue
to
expose
the
SEC
for
what
they
are
when
we
respond
to
this.”
Alderoty
wrote
that
the
company
will
file
its
response
to
the
SEC’s
motion
next
month,
adding
“As
we
all
have
seen
time
and
time
again,
this
is
a
regulator
that
trades
in
statements
that
are
false,
mischaracterized
and
designed
to
mislead
…
Rather
than
faithfully
apply
the
law,
the
SEC
remains
bent
on
wanting
to
punish
and
intimidate
Ripple
–
and
the
industry
at
large.
We
trust
the
Court
will
approach
the
remedies
phase
fairly.”
An
SEC
spokesperson
declined
to
comment.
UPDATE
(March
25,
2024,
20:45
UTC):
Adds
response
from
SEC
spokesperson.
