Ripple's Legal Chief Reveals Details of SEC's XRP Settlement Proposal Prior to 2020 Lawsuit

According to Cointelegraph: Ripple's Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, recently disclosed the contents of the SEC's proposed settlement offer that was presented before the agency initiated its lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020. As Alderoty explained, the SEC's settlement proposition involved publicly recognizing XRP as a security and providing a transition period to accommodate market compliance. Ripple declined the SEC's proposal, standing its ground that XRP should not be classified as a security. The company also questioned the SEC's lack of a proper regulatory structure for crypto compliance. In a case that started on December 22, 2020, the SEC filed an accusation against Ripple's co-founder, Christian Larsen, and CEO, Bradley Garlinghouse, alleging they conducted an unregistered digital asset security offering to raise $1.3 billion. Alderoty emphasized that despite having three years to develop explicit rules for crypto compliance post-lawsuit, the SEC had instead chosen to proceed with an enforcement-oriented approach. This has led to legal actions against prominent crypto exchanges, including Coinbase and Binance. U.S. crypto businesses have argued that present securities laws are not appropriate for crypto assets, and the SEC has made little headway in establishing a specific regulatory framework for the industry. However, in a summary judgment announced by Judge Analisa Torres in July 2023, it was ruled that XRP is not a security in retail transactions. Furthermore, Cointelegraph reported in October that the SEC dropped charges against Garlinghouse and Larsen.