The Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs are set to end a yearslong legal battle after jointly asking an appeals court to dismiss the regulator’s appeal and the blockchain company’s cross-appeal.
In a brief filing on Thursday, the Second Circuit Appeals Court recognized a joint dismissal of the SEC’s appeal and Ripple’s cross-appeal in the lawsuit over XRP (XRP), noting each party will bear their own costs and fees.
“Following the Commission’s vote today, the SEC and Ripple formally filed directly with the Second Circuit to dismiss their appeals,” Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, wrote to X on Thursday.
“The end…and now back to business,” he added.
The SEC sued Ripple in late 2020 in a federal court, accusing it of selling the token XRP as an unregistered security. A federal judge delivered a mixed ruling in July 2023, finding some tokens could be considered securities, a decision the agency had appealed.
Federal judge ruling on XRP is final
With the appeals process for the lawsuit abandoned, the decision made by New York federal judge Analisa Torres in 2023 will be final.
Judge Torres ruled that the XRP that Ripple sold on public exchanges did not meet the definition of a security, but the tokens the company sold to institutional investors were sold as unregistered securities.
She later ordered Ripple to pay $125 million in fines to the SEC, far lower than the agency’s $2 billion request. The fine and Judge Torres’ ruling triggered the regulator to appeal in October, which Ripple then cross-appealed.
SEC’s dismissal was expected
The SEC sued Ripple during Donald Trump’s first administration. However, Trump promised during his current and second administration to end regulatory enforcement of crypto, and the SEC has abandoned multiple lawsuits filed against crypto companies.
The SEC and Ripple filed a joint motion to the Second Circuit in April to pause the SEC’s appeal and Ripple’s cross-appeal after Ripple hinted a few weeks earlier that each would drop their cases.
Two came to a settlement in May and asked Judge Torres to dissolve the injunction and lower the $125 million fine against Ripple, which she denied in June, saying that Ripple was still required to follow federal securities laws regardless of the SEC’s regulatory pivot.
XRP soars over $3
The push toward settlement has been a major catalyst behind XRP’s price rally in recent months, rising nearly 99% from a 2025 bottom of $1.79 on April 9 to a peak of $3.56 on July 22, CoinGecko data shows.
XRP’s price briefly fell back below $3, but has since risen 10.6% over the past day to $3.31.
Legal Panel: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set
Additional reporting by Turner Wright.
