After nearly five years of legal battles, Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have finally put an end to the case regarding XRP. Both parties filed a joint statement with the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, waiving further appeals. In light of this news, the XRP token surged in price—by nearly 11%, according to CoinGecko data—and is currently trading at $3.35.
The SEC's lawsuit against Ripple was filed back in December 2020. The regulator accused the company of unlawfully distributing the token $XRP , considering it an unregistered security.
In July 2023, Judge Analiza Torres made an important ruling: trading XRP on cryptocurrency exchanges does not violate the law, but selling the token to institutional investors must go through the SEC registration process. This was a partial victory for Ripple.
Instead of the $2 billion penalty demanded by the SEC, the company agreed to pay $125 million. In October 2024, the regulator filed an appeal, to which Ripple responded with a counter.
After Donald Trump's reelection and a change in SEC leadership, the parties agreed to cease the litigation. In June 2025, they petitioned the court to lift the penalty and sales restrictions on $XRP large investors, but Judge Torres upheld her decision.
On August 7, Ripple and the SEC officially withdrew their appeals. Each party will cover its own litigation costs.
The court's decision from 2023 has become final: $XRP , which is traded on open markets, is not considered a security, but direct sales to institutional clients remain under regulatory control.
