XRP Surges Amid Reports of Ripple Nearing SEC Case Resolution

XRP gained 3% in the past hour.

Key Points:

• Ripple Labs' legal battle with the SEC, ongoing since December 2020, may soon reach a resolution, according to a Fox Business report.
• In 2023, District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple must pay a $125 million penalty for institutional XRP sales, which were classified as unregistered securities offerings.
• The ruling spared Ripple from the nearly $2 billion fine initially sought by the SEC.

The prolonged legal dispute between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may soon be resolved, according to Fox Business, which cited "two well-placed sources."

The legal battle, which began in December 2020 when the SEC accused Ripple of raising over $1.3 billion through unregistered XRP sales, may finally be nearing a conclusion—though negotiations over the final terms are still ongoing.

According to sources cited by Fox Business, Ripple’s legal team is seeking to renegotiate parts of a key 2023 ruling by District Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York (SDNY). That ruling imposed a $125 million penalty on Ripple for institutional XRP sales, which were classified as unregistered securities offerings, but spared the company from the nearly $2 billion fine initially sought by the SEC. The SEC appealed Torres’ decision shortly before former Chair Gary Gensler stepped down.

Judge Torres' ruling was widely seen as a victory for Ripple when it was issued, as the court determined that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP to exchanges—where retail traders could purchase it—did not qualify as securities transactions. However, with the SEC under new leadership retreating from several crypto-related investigations and dropping enforcement actions against companies like Coinbase, Cumberland DRW, and Kraken, Ripple's partial win may now feel less significant.

XRP rose 3% following the news.

A Ripple representative did not respond to a request for comment by press time.