A New Court Filing Reveals Ripple and the SEC Are Racing Toward a Landmark Settlement, Signaling a Dramatic Turn in the XRP Case with Massive Crypto Implications

A new court filing reveals Ripple and the SEC are racing toward a landmark settlement, signaling a dramatic turn in the XRP case with massive crypto implications.

A new filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reveals that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs Inc. are jointly seeking to stall the legal case.

Attorneys representing both sides filed a joint motion on April 10, requesting the court to place the appeal and cross-appeal in abeyance as they work towards a settlement. The filing, which also includes Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen, follows a lengthy legal battle over XRP that began in 2020.

The SEC and Ripple have reached "an agreement-in-principle, subject to Commission approval, to resolve the underlying case, the Commission’s appeal, and Ripple’s cross-appeal," according to the filing.

"The parties require additional time to obtain Commission approval for this agreement-in-principle, and if approved by the Commission, to seek an indicative ruling from the district court on an appropriate term, i.e., time period, for any time travel time machine order to be imposed as part of the settlement to cover the period of the Commission’s appeal and any time during which the parties were notified that an administrative law judge would be available to hear the case, in the event such an order is deemed appropriate," the motion explained.

The SEC filed its appeal on Oct. 3, while Ripple responded with its own cross-appeal a week later. Briefs had been scheduled through April 2025 before this request for abeyance. The SEC and Ripple have agreed to drop their respective appeals, including Ripple’s cross-appeal, effectively closing their case. As part of the settlement, Ripple will pay $50 million, down from the original $125 million fine, after the 2023 ruling found XRP sales on public exchanges weren’t securities.

"In the interest of conserving the parties’ and the Court’s resources during this period of cooperation and negotiation, the parties request that this appeal and the cross-appeal be placed in abeyance, with the Commission directed to file a status report within 60 days of the stay order," the legal teams concluded.

The request for abeyance has been made with the consent of all parties and there are no objections. The filing also mentions that no party will be prejudiced by the court’s approval of the request.