SEC Commissioner Throws a Fit over Ripple Deal—You Won’t Believe What She Said!

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Caroline Crenshaw sat alone in her corner chair, not unlike the last hold-out in a forlorn Salinas bar, and took a mighty swing at the SEC’s peace deal with Ripple. She gave it the kind of thrashing usually reserved for unruly livestock or hard-headed cousins at a summer gathering.

Now, Crenshaw’s never been shy about her dislike of crypto—some might say she treats it the way a rancher treats coyotes near the henhouse. That day, her statement had all the warmth of an overcooked bean and called the settlement “a tremendous disservice to the investment public.” Translate that out of officialese, it’s more or less: “You folks got hoodwinked.”

The commissioner accused the agency of gutting its own enforcement and undermining the very court order it bragged about last Thanksgiving. The SEC, she said, “diluted” investor protections like a bartender watering down the last bottle of bourbon before closing time. Served neat, with a side of indignation.

Here’s where it gets funny—sorta like blaming the scarecrow for the birds—the woman reckons the SEC brass are actually scared of their own legal shadow. If they win, she warns, the ruling might tie their hands, and then who would there be left to chase the chickens? Quoth our intrepid commissioner: “Our agency is, I fear, worried that the appellate court would issue a sound ruling that agreed with the legal arguments already laid out by the Commission.” If only U.S. law ran on feelings instead of filings.

Meanwhile, somewhere in New York, the SEC fired off a letter asking the district court for an “indicative ruling.” That’s the bureaucratic equivalent of waving your hat in the air and shouting, “Hey Judge, you cool with this new plan?”

Judge Analisa Torres once hit Ripple with a $125 million fine—enough to buy all of Steinbeck country a few rounds—but thanks to the deal, Ripple’s penalty has slimmed down to $50 million. Maybe they used a good lawyer, or maybe they just promised not to stir up too much dust. The injunction got tossed out too, so the sheep can roam free.

But don’t uncork the champagne just yet—the case still lingers in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, waiting for Judge Torres to nod approvingly at the new arrangement. Only when both sides drop their appeals will the lawyers cash in their chips and the story be done (until the next chapter).

One nugget survives the legal landslide: that summary judgment ruling is staying put. But Crenshaw sees the breed of trouble that doesn’t stray far. If Ripple peddles more unregistered XRP tokens to suit-clad institutions, she figures the SEC will respond by doing absolutely, categorically, tremendously…nothing. And isn’t that just like a government agency—hard at work at hardly working? 😏

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2025-05-09 18:50