Floated Ripple-SEC Settlement Hits Hurdle on Funds, XRP Sales

A federal judge has thrown a wrench into the SEC’s agreement with Ripple Labs Inc. to scrap an appeal over sales of the cryptocurrency company’s tokens and reduce its civil penalty.

The parties conditioned a settlement of their cross-appeals on Judge Analisa Torres’s willingness to release money in an escrow account—reducing the $125 million civil penalty to $50 million—and to allow previously barred digital asset sales, they said in a recent letter to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. But on Thursday, Torres denied the request for an “indicative” ruling showing whether she would approve ...