Attorney Fred Rispoli suggests that the potential overhaul of the SEC leadership under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could lead to a faster resolution of the Ripple lawsuit.
The pro-XRP lawyer made the projection yesterday, noting that Trump’s emergence as U.S. president-elect is good news for crypto. Notably, he expects this victory to affect the appeal timeline of the Ripple lawsuit.
As reported earlier, Rispoli predicted that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit would issue its verdict for the case by 2026. Now, he believes a resolution would happen sooner following Trump’s victory.
How Trump’s Victory Changes Ripple Appeal Timeline
Attorney Rispoli claimed that the U.S. president-elect is aware of the Ripple lawsuit through the X posts from the company’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty.
It is worth noting that Alderoty was among the crypto stakeholders who made significant donations to Trump’s campaign. Specifically, the Ripple legal chief donated over $300,000 worth of XRP to Trump during his presidential campaign.
Furthermore, Rispoli said there will be extreme changes in the SEC leadership by March or April 2025 following the emergence of the Trump-led administration.
Given Trump’s victory and the potential SEC leadership overhaul, Attorney Rispoli forecasts that the Ripple lawsuit could be heading for a settlement, which he referred to as a ‘realistic possibility.’
2 Scenarios for SEC v. Ripple Settlement
Notably, he highlighted two scenarios for a potential settlement in the Ripple lawsuit under the current and upcoming SEC leadership.
Settlement Under Existing SEC Leadership
Following the recent developments in the U.S. election, Attorney Rispoli stated that a settlement is the best achievable outcome for the Ripple case under the current SEC leadership.
According to him, the current leadership might quickly settle the Ripple lawsuit by accepting the conditions of the final verdict. The court imposed a $125 million fine against Ripple and a permanent injunction against the company’s future XRP institutional sales.
Rispoli expects the SEC to make this move before the emergence of a new leadership, which might fully take effect by March or April 2025.
Settlement Under New SEC Leadership
For the second scenario, Rispoli expects that a new SEC leadership, potentially appointed in the spring of 2025, might reconsider the Ripple case from a less aggressive stance. Here, the expert projected that the new SEC leadership will consider the case to be ‘idiotic.’
As a result, the securities regulator might settle for a lesser amount than the current administration will accept. Additionally, Rispoli forecasted that part of the settlement terms would structure Ripple’s future XRP sales to institutional clients to ensure they do not constitute investment contracts.
In conclusion, Rispoli nullified his previous prediction that the Ripple appeal would be resolved by 2026. He currently believes a potential settlement is a realistic possibility for the Ripple lawsuit, which could see the company settle on stringent terms under the existing leadership or better conditions under a crypto-friendly administration.
