- Lawyer Bill Morgan has clarified that the possibility of the Ripple vs. SEC case being prolonged to 2026 would depend on Judge Analisa Torres’ decision on the latest joint motion.
- Meanwhile, he believes ruling against the joint motion is an improbable outcome.
Pro-XRP lawyer Bill Morgan has dismissed the possibility that the ongoing legal battle between the SEC and Ripple could continue to 2026. According to him, this could only happen if Judge Analisa Torres decides to “rule against the latest joint motion”.
Responding to an X user who raised this concern, Morgan clarified that this outcome is improbable.
This is not on the cards unless Judge Torres rules against the latest joint motion, and rather than make the common-sense decision to live with the summary judgment decision and the current penalty and permanent injunction, the settlement process breaks down completely and both parties run their appeals.
The Background of the Case and the Latest Update
In June 2023, Judge Analisa Torres granted a partial victory to Ripple, as her ruling highlighted that XRP sales to retail investors do not violate federal securities law. However, the XRP sold to investors during funding rounds constituted security sales, as mentioned in our previous news brief.
In August 2024, Ripple was ordered to pay a sum of $125 million as a penalty. Prior to that, the Commission had filed an appeal because it was not satisfied with the court’s decision. Fast-forward, Ripple boss Brad Garlinghouse disclosed on March 19 that the SEC would drop its appeal, as indicated in our earlier discussion. Less than a week later, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty hinted that Ripple would also drop its cross-appeal.
As outlined in our recent blog post, the SEC and Ripple have just filed a joint motion in the Manhattan federal court to dissolve the injunction in their case and also release the $125 million held in escrow.
This implies that only $50 million would go to the Commission while the remaining $75 million goes to Ripple. Additionally, this move would settle outstanding appeals and prevent the case from prolonging to 2026. A denial of the motion may certainly extend the case, as both parties may have to proceed with their appeals.
Commenting on this development, expert James Farrell pointed out that the case could also end quickly if the SEC approves both the settlement and the indicative ruling.
If the SEC approves both, then file the motion for an indicative ruling before Judge Torres. This will likely not be quick. J Caprini took 6 months for a similar one in Litovich, but J Parker only 3 weeks in Avilez on one where settlement was conditioned on vacating the ruling.
Meanwhile, Morgan believes that Ripple has been the cause of the delay as it wants the injunction dissolved. As highlighted in our recent publication, he argues that both parties would have settled months ago if this were not the case.
Currently, XRP is moving within the range of $2.0 and $2.2 as investors keenly monitor the outcome of the case. At press time, the asset was up by 8% in the last 24 hours. According to our recent analysis, XRP could surge to $14 in the near term.
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