With the SEC demanding a nearly $2 billion fine from Ripple, we’ve highlighted the amount of XRP the company might sell to meet this obligation if the court sides with the regulatory agency.
The U.S. SEC recently filed its opening remedies brief, proposed judgment, and accompanying exhibits in the Ripple case. Notably, the part of the SEC’s recent filing that has caught the crypto community’s attention is its proposed judgment.
SEC Seeks Nearly $2 Billion Fine
The SEC specifically demanded that the court order Ripple to pay $1,950,768,364 ($1.95 billion) in fees and penalties over its violation of federal securities laws.
According to the SEC, Ripple must pay the $1.95 billion 30 days after the court adopts and issues its proposal as the final judgment.
If the court sides with the SEC and Ripple chooses not to appeal the decision, the company would have to raise the $1.95 billion within 30 days after the final judgment is issued.
How Much XRP Ripple Could Sell to Pay Fine
A possible source for Ripple to raise funds is through the sales of the XRP tokens it holds, especially the ones in its escrow accounts. Per the SEC, Ripple held a total of 45.77 billion XRP in its escrow accounts as of December 31, 2023.
The crypto payments company has already unlocked and utilized 600 million XRP from escrow this year, bringing the total amount locked in escrow to 45.17 billion XRP.
Should Ripple decide to raise the $1.95 billion fine by strictly selling some of its XRP holdings, the company would need to sell 3,122,728,291 (3.12 billion) XRP in escrow at the current price of $0.6247.
The 3.12 billion XRP coins that could be sold represent about 6.91% of the total XRP coins in escrow. Taking this route and dumping huge amounts of XRP in the market could wreak havoc on the coin’s price.
It is noteworthy that this analysis merely borders on a series of events that might not occur. There is no guarantee that the judge would side with the SEC, nor would Ripple accept a ruling that orders it to pay nearly $2 billion in penalties.
In the meantime, Ripple will file its opposition to the SEC’s reply brief by next month and is expected to argue against the proposal.
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