Ripple Argues for Penalty Reduction to $10 Million, Cites Terraform’s SEC Settlement in Appeal

cryptonews.com:

Ripple Labs made a strong case in its lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 13. Citing the Terraform Labs settlement, Ripple argued that the penalty proposed by the regulatory body should be reduced to $10M. By drawing this parallel, Ripple seeks to reduce the SEC’s proposed penalty.

In the ongoing legal tussle between Ripple and the SEC, the firm argued that the US regulator’s proposed $2 billion penalty is unreasonable, as stated in a “notice of supplemental authority.”

In the filing, Ripple’s attorneys pointed out key differences between their case and Terraform Labs’. While Terraform faced fraud charges that wiped out billions in value globally, Ripple is only accused of selling unregistered securities, with no fraud allegations. They argue that the SEC’s pursuit of a similar settlement, despite the differences in charges, is unfair.

“The civil penalty sought by the US SEC in Terraform demonstrates the unreasonableness of the civil penalty sought by the SEC in this (Ripple’s) case,” Ripple’s attorney stated. “As Ripple’s opposition explained, in comparable (and even more egregious) cases, the SEC has agreed to civil penalties ranging from 0.6% to 1.8% of the defendant’s gross revenues. Terraform fits that pattern.”