- The company behind XRP ended its appeal and accepts the $125M SEC penalty.
- Earlier, the judge blocked attempt to lift Ripple’s permanent injunction.
Ripple Labs has decided to end its years-long legal fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, announcing Friday on X that it will drop its cross-appeal and accept the original $125 million civil penalty. The move comes just one day after a federal judge blocked a second attempt by both parties to settle the case on revised terms.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres rejected the joint request from Ripple and the SEC that would have lowered the firm’s financial penalty to $50 million and removed the permanent injunction against it. The judge’s comments made clear she saw no reason to lift the ban that required Ripple to “follow the law.”
“If the Court should not be concerned about Ripple violating the law, why do the parties want to eliminate the injunction…?” Torres wrote, as reported by Coindesk “This has not changed, nor do the parties claim that it has.”
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Second Time Court’s Settlement Rejection
This was the second time the court had rejected such a settlement proposal. In May, a similar attempt was dismissed over procedural and jurisdictional flaws. With little sign the judge would approve more lenient terms, Ripple chose to abandon its legal efforts and accept the court’s original decision.
Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, confirmed the move in a post on X, stating, “Ripple is dropping our cross appeal, and the SEC is expected to drop their appeal… We’re closing this chapter once and for all.”
The SEC initially filed suit in December 2020, under former Chair Jay Clayton, accusing Ripple of illegally raising funds by selling XRP as an unregistered security. After years of arguments, Judge Torres found in a landmark 2023 ruling that XRP sales on public exchanges didn’t violate securities laws but institutional sales did, warranting penalties.
XRP’s price responded positively to the announcement, climbing 4%, according to CoinMarketCap. With both sides now backing off appeals and the original penalty standing, the years-long standoff appears finally resolved—though the permanent injunction against Ripple will likely remain.
