- XRP surged 10% as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced the SEC will drop its appeal in their long-standing legal battle.
- The SEC lawsuit, filed in 2020, had allegedly caused $15 billion in losses for XRP holders before Judge Torres ruled partially in Ripple’s favor in 2023.
- Resolution of the case improves prospects for XRP ETF approval, with Bloomberg analysts previously estimating 65-75% chances by year-end.
XRP jumped 10% Wednesday morning as Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, announced the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is abandoning its appeal against the company. The development marks a potential conclusion to one of the crypto industry’s most significant regulatory battles.
“This is it – the moment we’ve been waiting for. The SEC will drop its appeal,” Garlinghouse posted on X. “A resounding victory for Ripple, for crypto, every way you look at it.”
The SEC initiated its lawsuit against Ripple in 2020 during President Trump’s first administration, claiming the company raised $1.3 billion through unregistered securities sales of XRP tokens. In what many viewed as a partial victory for Ripple, U.S. Judge Analisa Torres ruled in 2023 that while institutional sales violated federal securities law, programmatic sales to retail exchanges did not. Following that decision, Ripple received a $125 million fine last August, with the SEC subsequently filing a notice of appeal.
Garlinghouse previously described the SEC’s action as the “first major shot fired in the war on crypto” and noted that XRP holders suffered approximately $15 billion in losses as a result of the litigation. The case took significantly longer to resolve than previous SEC actions, making it a landmark regulatory confrontation for the cryptocurrency sector.
The SEC has withdrawn several crypto cases following the departure of former Chair Gary Gensler. This includes dropping its investigation into Coinbase. While Paul Atkins has been nominated by Trump as the next SEC chair, the Senate has not yet scheduled his confirmation hearing.
Ripple and its executives were significant donors during the 2024 election cycle, contributing over $70 million to the Congress-focused Fairshake super PAC and over $5 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
The resolution of this legal battle substantially increases the likelihood of SEC approval for an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF). Several major financial institutions including Grayscale, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton have filed applications for such products in recent months. ETF analysts at Bloomberg previously estimated a 65-75% probability of approval by the end of this year. XRP was also identified by Trump as one of the assets that would be included in his proposed strategic U.S. crypto reserve.
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