Lawyer Fred Rispoli believes that personal emotions or political bias may be behind the decision to reject the modification of the $125 million fine.
The ruling by District Judge Analisa Torres rejected the joint proposal between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to modify the final judgment in the XRP case, which has sparked strong speculation among legal professionals. The decision to maintain the $125 million fine and legal ban has created a new sense of urgency in the crypto community about the future of this 4.5-year-long lawsuit.
Lawyer Fred Rispoli shared a detailed analysis of the motives behind Judge Torres' ruling on the social media platform X on June 25. He presented two main hypotheses explaining why the court rejected the joint effort of the litigating parties to modify the final judgment.
Rispoli suggests that the decision may stem from the judge's personal emotions: "There are only two reasons for this. First, she is angry because the parties have wasted 4.5 years of her time with a bitter lawsuit. This reason is entirely plausible."
The second hypothesis raised by the lawyer relates to political factors: "Second, she has a hostile attitude towards the Trump administration and will do anything possible to create obstacles. This reason is entirely plausible for some federal judges." He also notes that the issue of political bias can occur with judges regardless of who is in power.
Predictions about the next scenario
Although the court rejected changing the ruling, Rispoli still believes that this legal battle is approaching an unofficial conclusion. He analyzes: "The SEC declares it will withdraw its appeal, but I don't believe this has been formalized. The SEC may formally withdraw and simply not respond to Ripple's appeal argument, thereby helping Ripple achieve a major victory."
However, the lawyer assesses the likelihood of a favorable scenario for Ripple as "0%". Instead, he predicts: "The parties will jointly withdraw their appeals, settle at $50 million, and maintain the existing ban."
When asked about the ruling's impact on XRP's prospects and the possibility of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval, Rispoli states: "The ban does not affect XRP trading in secondary markets and will not impact XRP ETF approvals."
In the official ruling, Judge Torres emphasized that neither party demonstrated the "special circumstances" necessary to modify a final judgment. She affirmed that only the appellate court, not a post-judgment agreement, has the legal authority to nullify the declared fines and bans. Despite Ripple's argument that their business model has changed, the judge concluded there was no legal basis to invalidate the previous ruling.
