SEC Holds Secret Meeting on August 1—Will Ripple (XRP) Case Reach a Settlement as the Battle Heats Up?

• The US SEC was to hold a closed-door meeting two weeks ago, but it postponed it to August 1, with the settlement of injunctive actions resolution of litigation claims on its agenda.
• The XRP community expects the token to be one of the main talking points as legal minds predict that the agency is preparing to settle after losing some critical battles with Ripple.

Nearly four years after then-SEC chair Jay Clayton filed a securities violations lawsuit against Ripple, the legal battle appears to be edging closer to a conclusion. In two days, the agency’s top brass is scheduled for a closed-door meeting, with XRP expected to be one of the main talking points.

As we reported two weeks ago, the SEC was scheduled to hold the meeting on July 17. However, a last-minute notice on its website revealed that the meeting had been rescheduled for two weeks later, which will be on Thursday this week.

While it has not revealed the identities of the expected attendees—a right that’s guaranteed under the Sunshine Act—the agency published the following four topics as the main agenda for the meeting:

• Institution and settlement of injunctive actions;
• Institution and settlement of administrative proceedings;
• Resolution of litigation claims; and
• Other matters relating to examinations and enforcement proceedings.

The SEC didn’t explicitly reveal that the meeting would involve extensive discussions of Ripple and XRP, but this hasn’t stopped the community from speculating that this could be the meeting at which the regulator decides to finally settle with the California company.

BREAKING NEWS:

The canceled SEC meeting from yesterday, July 18, has been postponed to Thursday, July 25!

Will this finally be the end of the #Ripple vs. SEC case? https://t.co/TZ8APTjx7y pic.twitter.com/r9nL5i5dGz

— ???????????????????????? (@_Crypto_Barbie) July 19, 2024

Meanwhile, the anticipation for the upcoming meeting has spread to the trading circles, with XRP gaining 2.6% in the past day to trade at $0.6194 at press time. This made it the only cryptocurrency in the top 20 coins on the green in the past 24 hours, as Bitcoin, Dogecoin, AVAX, and more lost over 3% in the past day. Even a report that the SEC is no longer regarding Solana as a security couldn’t revive SOL, which lost 4.5% in that time.

What’s Next for Ripple and XRP?

As Ripple awaits its judgment against the SEC, the XRP community has much to be excited about. The upcoming meeting could produce the much-awaited news that the token is no longer the subject of a vengeful campaign by Gensler.

The even better news could come later this year, however. As we reported, Donald Trump recently announced that on his first day in office—if he outfoxes Kamala Harris—he will kick Gensler out of the SEC. Experts say that Trump would also focus on resolving the ongoing litigations—including Ripple’s—as soon as he’s in office.

Michael Selig, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, one of the most respected law firms in the world, commented:

A Trump administration would likely seek to reset and rethink the SEC’s crypto regulatory policy. Such a reset would naturally involve resolving ongoing enforcement actions and investigations brought by the prior administration.

So, for crypto in general and XRP in particular, a victory for Trump is critical. The question remains: can he win? Well, according to most polls, he’s leading Harris by a small margin, and it will come down to the undecided voters in the Nov. 5 election.