- The SEC has officially dropped its appeal in the Ripple case, ending a four-year legal battle that cost the company hundreds of millions in legal fees.
- The 2023 partial victory established that XRP isn’t a security when sold to retail investors on crypto exchanges, though institutional sales are still regarded differently.
- With the case effectively concluded, Ripple is still evaluating whether to drop its own cross appeal against remaining elements of the case.
Rejoice, XRP fan. It’s over.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finally ended its lawsuit against the company.
The SEC has abandoned their appeal. That means we go from being the defendant to the plaintiff.
Ripple CEO Brad GarlinghouseRipple was famously sued by the agency in 2020 for allegedly selling XRP as a security and without proper registration.
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Although Ripple had a partial victory in 2023 when US District Judge Analisa Torres said that XRP is not a security when sold to retail investors on crypto exchanges, sales made to institutional investors are still regarded as such.
CEO Says SEC Fight was Unnecessary, No One Harmed
Speaking at the Digital Assets Summit in New York on Wednesday, Garlinghouse said how relieved he and his team were and that he “deeply believed that we were going to be on the right side of the law and on the right side of history”.
It’s been almost four years and about three months since the SEC originally sued us, certainly a painful journey in lots of ways.
Ripple CEO Brad GarlinghouseGarlinghouse also lamented the system, saying “it feels broken”. He argued that the fight against the SEC was unnecessary and unjust, as there had been no victims.
That we had to fight this fight for the industry and you had an SEC attacking the industry, particularly the Ripple case. There were no victims, there was no investor loss. They were just not acting in good faith.
Ripple CEO Brad GarlinghouseRipple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, naturally welcomed the decision, stating it sets a “precedent for the domestic crypto industry”.
Some have speculated that with clarity for XRP, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for the coin and many others would become very likely once the case is dropped.
SEC Drops Appeal, Will Ripple do the Same?
It should be noted that the SEC is dropping its appeal only and Ripple is still “evaluating” how they go about their cross appeal.
Garlinghouse told Bloomberg in an interview that they would consider dropping the appeal but also highlighted that the firm had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on legal fees, “defending this case, not just for us, but for the entire industry”, he said.
Related: XRP a Strategic Asset? Proposal on US SEC Website Leaves Investors Scratching Their Heads
On the topic of whether the company would now go public, Garlinghouse was dismissive of Ripple IPO rumours, stating that it isn’t a priority at the moment.
Going public is something we can consider, but we don’t need to do it.
Ripple CEO Brad GarlinghouseXRP was up 12% in the past 24 hours on the news, currently selling for US$2.55 (AU$4.01) and has moved back into the third spot of the crypto market cap.
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