(Reuters) – A Manhattan court judge has ordered Labs to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about $125 million in fines over charges of misselling the cryptocurrency XRP, according to a court filing.
BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT?
The SEC had sought fines and penalties totaling $2 billion in its case against Ripple Labs, its chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty said in March. This penalty could only be a fraction of that amount.
The SEC previously sued Ripple, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen in 2020, accusing them of illegally raising more than $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP.
The SEC dropped its remaining lawsuits against Garlinghouse and Larsen in October. The case had been highly followed, as it is one of the most important filed by the SEC in the cryptocurrency space.
THE ANSWER
“We respect the court's decision and have clarity to continue growing our company,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a post on X.
“As court after court has affirmed, the securities laws apply when companies offer and sell investment contracts, regardless of the technology or labels they use,” an SEC spokesperson said in reaction to the ruling.
