Breaking: Ripple and SEC Officially End XRP Lawsuit

XRP Lawsuit Officially Ends with No Further Appeals

The long-running legal showdown between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has come to a formal close, with both parties officially withdrawing their appeals in the XRP lawsuit. This marks the end of a nearly four-year legal saga that has helped shape the conversation around crypto as securities in the United States.

In a joint filing submitted Thursday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the SEC and Ripple agreed to dismiss their respective appeals, confirming that each side will cover its own legal fees. Ripple also confirmed that the $125 million civil penalty agreed to in June will now be transferred from escrow to the U.S. Treasury.

XRP Surges as Ripple Closes Chapter

News of the formal resolution sparked a 10% spike in XRP’s price, bringing it up to $3.31 in the past 24 hours. The closure not only boosts investor confidence but also solidifies Ripple’s legal standing — at least for now.

Though Ripple remains under a permanent injunction restricting its institutional sales of XRP, the resolution means no further litigation will proceed over those past actions. The penalty payout also marks Ripple’s final accountability in the case, after a partial win in court.

The Key Ruling That Set a Precedent

The SEC first sued Ripple in December 2020, accusing the company and its executives of conducting an unregistered securities offering through the sale of XRP, the third-largest crypto by market cap at the time.

Ripple denied the claims, arguing that XRP is not a security, and fought the case over the next three years. In a pivotal decision in October 2023, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres issued a split ruling. She found that institutional sales of XRP violated securities laws, but programmatic sales on public exchanges did not — marking a major shift in how courts might assess crypto going forward.

The SEC had initially planned to appeal parts of the ruling, and Ripple filed a cross-appeal. However, both parties agreed to abandon those efforts as of this week, effectively locking in the 2023 ruling as final precedent.

A Turning Point for Crypto Regulation

This outcome is seen as a partial victory for the crypto industry, especially after the SEC dropped its charges against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chairman Chris Larsen in 2023. Both men had been accused of aiding and abetting the alleged securities violations — charges that are now permanently dropped.

Now that the appeals process is complete, the Ripple case sets a key legal standard: not all crypto sales are automatically securities offerings, particularly when sold on public exchanges. This distinction could heavily influence future regulatory battles, especially as more digital asset cases head to U.S. courts.

As the crypto space awaits further legislation from Congress and watches the SEC’s evolving stance under its new leadership, the Ripple case stands as a defining moment in the intersection of U.S. securities law and blockchain finance.