Ashley Prosper, a well-known member of the XRP community and an expert in the field, has put forward several factors that suggest the long-running legal battle between Ripple and the SEC may have come to a settlement. However, it is important to note that this is purely speculative.
Prosper made these observations in a recent post on X. “I cannot confirm that Ripple and the SEC have reached a settlement. However, it certainly appears that way,” Prosper remarked.
Prosper outlined several reasons to support his assertions. Firstly, he mentioned the recent ruling in the SEC v. Govil lawsuit by the Second Circuit, where the court denied the SEC’s request to reverse its decision on disgorgement. Notably, the court ruled that the SEC cannot demand disgorgement from the seller if the buyer did not suffer any financial losses.
Secondly, Prosper criticized the SEC’s remedies-related brief for its failure to identify a single institutional investor who experienced financial losses from purchasing XRP from Ripple.
Another factor suggesting a possible settlement between the SEC and Ripple, according to Prosper, was the occurrence of a settlement conference in which the defendant did not submit its remedies-related reply brief.
It should be noted that the settlement conference took place on March 29 at 03:10 PM (ET), as directed by the court, which ordered the parties to convene at least one hour before the final pretrial conference on April 16 to explore the possibility of settling the case. Prosper mentioned that the settlement conference lasted longer than anticipated.
Moreover, Prosper pointed out that the SEC has shifted its focus away from Ripple and is now targeting other crypto entities, including Ethereum and Uniswap. The SEC has launched an investigation to potentially classify Ethereum as a security and has sent a Wells Notice to popular Ethereum-based decentralized exchange Uniswap.
Additionally, Prosper highlighted Ripple’s plan to launch a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar and the unexpected release of 500 million XRP from the company’s escrow account. This led XRP enthusiasts to speculate that Ripple intends to use these funds to fulfill its settlement obligations.
Lastly, Prosper mentioned the upcoming SEC’s Sunshine Act meeting as another indication that a settlement has been reached. It is worth noting that the SEC recently held a closed-door meeting on April 11.
However, it is still unclear whether a settlement has been reached, despite the speculation from Prosper and other XRP enthusiasts. The lawsuit is currently in the remedies stage, with Ripple expected to submit its opposition to the SEC’s brief by April 22.
In a subsequent disclosure, Prosper made some corrections to his earlier remarks. He confirmed that there is no settlement conference scheduled for April 16, as previously stated. He also clarified that the reason behind the release of 500 million XRP from escrow had been explained.
To provide context, The Crypto Basic confirmed this morning that the escrow release was part of the scheduled monthly quota of 1 billion tokens. The transactions, originally planned for April 1, were simply delayed. Despite these corrections, Prosper continued to speculate based on his other assertions.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author’s personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Crypto Basic. Readers are advised to conduct their own research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not liable for any financial losses incurred.