Catenaa, Monday, March 24, 2025-Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has announced on X that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was dropping its appeal in the long-running lawsuit against the company.
However, the SEC has not officially annouced the decision.
“I’m finally able to announce that this case has ended. It’s over,” Garlinghouse said in a video on X, formerly Twitter.
“Today is a victory and [a] long overdue surrender from the SEC.”
While the SEC has not officially confirmed its decision, a Ripple spokesperson said the appeal’s withdrawal is subject to an internal Commission vote. The process could take several weeks, they added.
The SEC sued Ripple Labs in 2020, alleging that its XRP token was an unregistered security. In a partial victory for Ripple, a federal judge ruled in 2023 that sales of XRP on public exchanges did not constitute securities transactions. However, the court found that direct sales to institutional investors did.
Following the news, XRP’s price surged as much as 14% to $2.55, according to CoinGecko data.
The SEC’s retreat follows a broader shift under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, who has scaled back enforcement actions against crypto firms, including cases against Coinbase and Kraken.
A federal court previously ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million penalty for XRP sales to institutions, far below the SEC’s initial $2 billion request. It is unclear whether dropping the appeal will affect that ruling.
The outcome of the case could have had wide-ranging implications for cryptocurrency regulations, particularly on how digital assets are classified as securities or commodities.
