Judge Torres Torpedoes SEC-Ripple Settlement—Crypto Regulation Now in Freefall
In a seismic ruling that sent shockwaves through Wall Street and Crypto Twitter alike, Judge Analisa Torres just gutted the SEC’s cozy settlement with Ripple Labs. The decision throws years of regulatory posturing into chaos—and yes, your compliance team is already billing overtime.
Key fallout: XRP holders are popping champagne while SEC lawyers scramble. The ’regulation by enforcement’ playbook? Officially shredded. Meanwhile, crypto exchanges are recalculating their legal exposure faster than a degenerate trader chasing the next shitcoin pump.
Bottom line: The SEC just got schooled on how not to bully a $50B industry. And somewhere in Manhattan, Gary Gensler is reciting his favorite mantra—’Come in and register’—to an empty conference room.
Judge Claims Crypto Filing Is Procedurally Improper
The decision comes just over a week after both Ripple and the federal regulator filed a settlement agreement that would begin the process of effectively removing the crypto company’s civil enforcement action against it.
#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP Judge Torres has denied the parties’ motion for an indicative ruling. “If jurisdiction were restored to this Court, the Court WOULD deny the parties’ motion as procedurally improper.” pic.twitter.com/4s95ILvzsy
— James K. Filan
“By styling their motion as one for ‘settlement approval,’ the parties fail to address the heavy burden they must overcome to vacate the injunction and substantially reduce the civil penalty,” Torres said.
In a May 8 statement posted to the SEC’s website, the two parties claimed that they “will seek a limited remand to the district court after which they would MOVE to dismiss their respective appeals from the final judgment” in the event Torres denied the request.
The SEC Shifts Crypto Stance
The move is a slight setback in resolving the years-long court battle as the SEC moves toward establishing a crypto-friendly regulatory framework for digital assets under U.S. President Donald Trump’s current administration.
Trump, who largely campaigned on a pro-crypto stance, tapped former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to spearhead the agency.
Atkins is expected to adopt a much more favorable approach to regulating the blockchain sector than his predecessor, Gary Gensler, who was known for his regulation-by-enforcement strategy.
“A key priority of my chairmanship will be to develop a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets that establishes clear rules of the road for the issuance, custody, and trading of crypto assets while continuing to discourage bad actors from violating the law,” Atkins said during a May 12 SEC roundtable.
