- Ripple has ended its 4+ year legal battle with the SEC, with both sides dropping their appeals, but final court and SEC approval are pending.
- Under the settlement, the SEC retains $50M of the $125M fine in escrow, with no admission of wrongdoing from Ripple.
- Ripple’s closure comes amid easing crypto oversight, though XRP’s price remains largely unchanged.
After over 4 years of uncertainty and hefty legal fees, Ripple’s case against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is finally over.
A week ago, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the SEC dropped its appeal, calling it a “resounding victory for Ripple”.
According to Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, the company has put the “final crossing of t’s and dotting of i’s” in one of the SEC’s highest-profile cryptocurrency cases at a time when the regulator is easing oversight of the industry (which the former director says is a mistake).
Under the accord, the agency will retain US$50M (AU$79M) of the $125M (AU$198M) fine, which is now held in escrow and earning interest.
However, do note that Alderoty said the settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing. Moreover, the final approval is still required by both the SEC and the presiding judge.
In a post, Alderoty said:
Last week, the SEC agreed to drop its appeal without conditions. Ripple has now agreed to drop its cross-appeal. The SEC will keep $50M of the $125M fine (already in an interest-bearing escrow in cash), with the balance returned to Ripple.
Stuart Alderoty, Ripple Chief Legal OfficerAlderoty added that the agency will ask the Court to lift the standard injunction imposed earlier at the SEC’s request. “All subject to Commission vote, drafting of final documents and usual court processes. That’s all folks!”, he added.
XRP Remains… Unchanged
But the good news has not exactly sent XRP into a mega-bullish rally or anything close to it. On the daily chart, XRP is trading at US$2.44 (AU$3.87), a change of 0.11%. On the weekly scale, the token is at least up 7%.
However, a logical argument would be that the token has already priced in the case settlement for several days now.
At least in the yearly chart, XRP has gained over 270%, making it the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market value, trailing Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether.
Related: Tokenised Gold Might Pave Way for Bitcoin’s Growth, Says Expert
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