SEC Drops Appeal and Lawsuit Against Ripple Labs

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to drop its appeal and lawsuit against Ripple Labs.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will drop its appeal and lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc, CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced, putting an end to a five-year legal battle that had a bearing on the fate of XRP cryptocurrency and broader crypto industry.

This marks a surprising turn of events as the apex court had ruled in favor of Ripple in July. Analisa Torres, a U.S. District Judge, ruled that programmatic sales of XRP to retail investors do not qualify as securities transactions.

The agency sued Ripple in December 2020, accusing it of selling XRP for over $1.3 billion in unregistered securities transactions. While the court ruled that institutional sales of XRP were deemed to have violated securities laws, it also said that the SEC’s ability to pursue further cases of this nature will be hampered.

"This is it - the moment we've been waiting for. The SEC will drop its appeal - a resounding victory for Ripple, for crypto, every way you look at it," Garlinghouse said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The agency’s decision to drop the appeal and lawsuit will be closely watched for any implications on the regulatory status of digital assets in the U.S. This move could also provide insight into the SEC’s strategy for regulating cryptocurrencies going forward.

The post XRP Price Surges 14% After SEC Decided to End Legal Fight Against Ripple

The apex court’s decision came as a surprise considering that the SEC has been busy shutting down crypto activity. Last month alone, the regulator settled multiple probes and closed cases against Coinbase Global Inc, Robinhood Markets Inc, and Kraken.

Meanwhile, Ripple is reportedly planning an initial public offering (IPO) in 2024, according to a report by Bloomberg.

"We could do an IPO, I think, probably in '24. It's not something that we're planning for now. But I think if we wanted to do an IPO, we could do an IPO tomorrow morning. We're profitable, we have a clear use case for our token. There's no reason we couldn't do that. But it's not something that we're focused on at the moment," the CEO said in an interview with Bloomberg Markets.

He also predicts that an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) could launch by the end of 2025.

"I think we'll see the first XRP ETF approved no later than the end of '25. There are already over ten applications that have been filed—from firms like Bitwise and Franklin Templeton—which are currently pending with the SEC."

According to Garlinghouse, he sees great potential for XRP to be included in the White House reserve system of digital assets.