The announcement came just a day after U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres rejected a proposal from Ripple Labs and the SEC.
Ripple decided to end its cross-appeal in the long-standing case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as announced by CEO Brad Garlinghouse on Friday (27).
The announcement came just a day after U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres rejected a proposal from Ripple Labs and the SEC that sought to reduce a $125 million fine or overturn a preliminary injunction imposed against the company related to XRP last year.
The decision came less than two weeks after the SEC and Ripple requested the court to reduce the civil penalty on the illegal sale of XRP to $50 million — well below the $2 billion requested under the leadership of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler — and to remove restrictions on Ripple's ability to sell the asset.
"We are closing our cross-appeal, and the expectation is that the SEC will also close theirs, as previously stated," Garlinghouse wrote on X. "We are closing this chapter once and for all and focusing on what really matters — building the internet of value. Stay tuned."
On Thursday, Ripple's legal director, Stuart Alderoty, stated on X that 'the ball is back in our court'. At the time, the company had not yet decided whether to proceed with the appeal but added that 'in any case, the legal status of XRP as not being a security remains unchanged'.
The SEC sued Ripple in 2020, accusing the company of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of unregistered securities, namely, XRP.
In 2023, a judge determined that programmatic sales of XRP on cryptocurrency exchanges to retail investors did not qualify as securities.
The decision was interpreted by both Ripple and the cryptocurrency sector as a victory at the time, although the same judge had ruled that $728 million in tokens sold to institutional investors constituted unregistered securities sales.
The Wall Street regulator had requested last year that Ripple pay a $2 billion fine, under the leadership of former Chair Gary Gensler. However, a New York court ordered the company to pay only $125 million. This spring, Ripple and the SEC attempted to reduce this penalty to $50 million but faced several objections in court over the past month.
Since President Donald Trump took office, the SEC under its new leadership has adopted a softer stance towards the crypto sector, filing nearly all lawsuits and investigations related to the topic. Trump campaigned with promises to support the cryptocurrency industry.
On Thursday, XRP was trading at around $2.12, virtually stable over the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko. Over the past 12 months, the asset appreciated by 347%.
XRP is the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and was created by the founders of Ripple. It is also the native token of the XRP Ledger blockchain.