Ripple to Pay $125 Million as SEC Ends Lawsuit
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finalized its extended case against Ripple Labs by imposing a $125 million penalty and blocking institutional XRP token sales.
The parties agreed to abandon their appeals of Judge Analisa Torres' 2023 decision which established XRP qualified as a security during institutional sales but not during public exchange trading. The Securities and Exchange Commission initiated its lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020 when it accused the company of conducting unregistered securities transactions.
The regulator has reduced its enforcement actions against major crypto entities since Donald Trump regained the presidency including Binance, Coinbase and Kraken. Ripple asked Judge Torres to reduce their fine to $50 million but she denied the request because she believed enforcement actions served public interests.
XRP functions as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market value while maintaining its essential role in Ripple's cross-border payment operations. Chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty declared the case dismissal as the final step in his X post.
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