The rumor of a potential settlement between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) scheduled for a closed meeting on July 18 has been debunked by former SEC regional director and pro-XRP attorney Marc Fagel. According to Fagel, the likelihood of a settlement being discussed at this particular meeting is highly unlikely, despite hopeful speculation from the community.

Ripple-SEC Settlement Is Highly Unlikely

The rumor was initially fueled by Brett Hill, an ambassador for cryptocurrency exchange Bitrue, who suggested on social media platform X that a private SEC meeting could end the long-running legal battle between Ripple and the regulator. Hill cited “reliable sources” and pointed to a screenshot of the SEC’s official meeting announcement, which did not explicitly mention Ripple.

In response to speculation, Marc Fagel jokingly he commented on X, saying: “I mean, they’ve had about 150 of these meetings almost every week since the case was filed, and Crypto Twitter was led to believe that a settlement was discussed at every single one of those meetings, but this is DEFINITELY it! [Narrator: It’s not the one.]”

According to the SEC’s announcement, the agenda for the meeting will cover topics such as the initiation and resolution of injunctive relief actions, administrative proceedings, resolution of lawsuits, and other matters related to enforcement proceedings. While the agenda includes topics that could theoretically include the Ripple settlement, there is no direct evidence to suggest that this is planned for discussion.

Meanwhile, another pro-XRP lawyer, Fred Rispoli, has scratched potential future date of July 31 for a possible resolution, though noting that “a settlement before verdict is unlikely.” Rispoli’s forecast includes a possible penalty of no more than $25 million for Ripple, with no restitution of any ill-gotten funds.

The SEC has been engaged in a legal dispute with Ripple since December 2020. After wrapping up a year and 4 days ago, both sides are currently awaiting a ruling on the remedy and penalty issued by Judge Analisa Torres.

The SEC is seeking a penalty of $102.6 million from Ripple, significantly lower than the nearly $2 billion originally requested. Ripple suggested limiting the penalty to $10 million, citing the Terraform Labs case as precedent. However, the SEC rejected this proposal in its response, stating that such a minimal amount would not be consistent with the purposes of the civil penalty provisions.

XRP price is gaining momentum

Over the past 12 days, XRP has surged from $0.38 to over $0.61, a 61% escalate. While Bitcoin has led the broader cryptocurrency market recovery, XRP has emerged as one of the best performers during this period. While no specific news can be directly linked to this price move, a favorable technical chart setup for XRP, along with the potential impact of settlement rumors, likely contributed to the significant gain.

At the time of going to press, XRP was priced at $0.61551.

Featured image is from YouTube, chart is from TradingView.com