SEC vs. Ripple Ends: Ruling Sets Legal Precedent in Crypto Market
New York, (August 07)-The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed with Ripple Labs to jointly dismiss the appeals and cross-appeals, ending a legal battle that spanned almost half a decade.
This is being seen as the most significant legal showdown in the history of crypto, as it cleared away one of the biggest hurdles in crypto regulations.
The withdrawal means that the District Judge’s mixed decision of July now stands as the final decision. This has set a legal precedent for how future crypto transactions will be assessed or judged under U.S Securities Law.
Stuart Alderoty, the Chief Legal Officer (CLO) of Ripple Labs, announced on X that the SEC vs Ripple is finally over.
The legal battle started in December 2020, when the SEC accused Ripple of violating federal securities law by selling its XRP tokens as unregistered securities and filed a lawsuit against the firm.
This heated battle lasted for almost 5 years and cost Ripple over $150 million till the District Judge Analissa Torres issued her mixed judgment in July 2023. In her ruling, she declared XRP is not a security in itself.
However, she held that Ripple violated security law in its past XRP sales to institutions, which in fact are treated as security. The judge ordered Ripple to pay the fines of $125 million for these violations.
The SEC challenged the decision as the fine by the District judge was far lower than the agency’s request of $2 billion, a move that was cross-appealed by Ripple. However, regulations pivoted as Donald Trump was elected to be the President of the United States. He promised to end regulatory enforcement of crypto. Since then, the SEC has withdrawn several lawsuits filed against crypto companies.
In April 2025, the SEC and Ripple jointly filed a motion intended to pause the SEC’s appeal and Ripple’s cross-appeal. It was speculated that both parties would soon withdraw the cases. In May, both came to a settlement and requested the judge to lower the fine from $125 million to $50 million. The judge denied the request. She held that despite the shift in the SEC’s regulation, Ripple was still required to follow federal securities laws in its past deals.
This settlement was followed by a 99% increase in XRP’s value, which rose nearly 99% from $1.97 on April 9 to $3.56 on July 22.
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