Ripple v. SEC Settlement? Former SEC Director Doubts It, Says Ruling Might Come in Days

Question

It seems that the case between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might soon be headed for trial.

The former Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Office, Marc Fagel, speculated on the matter on Twitter, saying that he thinks a ruling might be coming in a few days.

Will the SEC Settle With Ripple?

According to Fagel, a “settlement wouldn’t be a legal precedent.” However, he also argued that if there were a settlement to be had, “it seems like it would have happened already. He mentioned that “eve-of-trial” settlements are also not unusual, but the impact of an injunction on future XRP sales seems to be a sticking point.

In addition, he also said that his “guess is a ruling is coming within days.” Fagel mentioned that even if he’s wrong, there’s currently no basis for thinking that the delay of this case is because of anything “beyond the complexity of the case.”

My only point of reference is the recent unsealing order; that suggested to me that the Court had already determined what the ruling would be. […] I think the fact that she’s (judge Torres) unsealing materails that, if relevant at all, will only come out at trial rather than on SJ (i.e.the speech materials) suggests that at least some of this is headed for trial; beyond that is speculation.

The Unsealed Hinman Speech

Fagel’s unsealing of documents refers to the most recent development in the Ripple v. SEC case when Judge Analisa Torres unveiled the Hinman speech to the public.

AsCryptoPotatoreported, Ripple’s Chief Legal Office called for it to be removed from the SEC’s website and never again to be invoked in any discussions on whether an asset is a security.

The speech has been central to the Commission’s legal efforts, alleging that the sale of XRP in 2013 constituted an unregistered securities offering. Ripple, on the other hand, asserts that the speech describes Ether as a commodity, which should also rule out XRP from being a security since it was sold in a similar way.