tl;dr
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that Ripple will drop its cross appeal in its long-running lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This follows a recent court decision denying Ripple and the SEC's proposal to reduce a $125 million penalty and remove restrictions on Rip...
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the company will drop its cross appeal in the ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), signaling the near end of the lawsuit. This follows a recent court rejection of both Ripple’s and the SEC’s proposals to reduce a $125 million penalty and lift restrictions on Ripple’s ability to sell XRP tokens.
Originally, the SEC sought a $2 billion fine, but courts settled on a much lower penalty of $125 million. A later attempt by both parties to reduce this fine further to $50 million was also denied. A 2023 court ruling clarified that programmatic sales of XRP to retail investors are not securities, while institutional sales were deemed securities transactions. This nuanced outcome has been viewed as a partial victory for Ripple and a landmark decision for the crypto industry.
With the decision to drop the cross appeal, Ripple aims to close this chapter and focus on building the "Internet of Value," a concept the company champions to streamline global value transfer using blockchain technology. CEO Garlinghouse emphasized this strategic pivot, signaling confidence in XRP’s stable legal status, which remains classified as not a security for retail investors.
Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, noted that while the company had not yet decided whether to proceed with appeals, XRP’s legal status as not a security remains untouched. The lawsuit, initiated by the SEC in 2020 alleging unregistered securities sales totaling billions, has shaped regulatory discourse around cryptocurrency’s classification.
The XRP token, native to Ripple’s blockchain platform, has shown remarkable market performance despite legal uncertainty, soaring 347% over the past year and ranking as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. With shifting regulatory attitudes under recent SEC leadership, and efforts to resolve legal disputes amicably, Ripple is positioning itself for growth in the evolving crypto ecosystem.