The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has temporarily suspended the appeal proceedings in the SEC-Ripple case

As part of Judge Cabranes' order, the SEC has two months to file a status report to update the court on the progress of the settlement.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has temporarily suspended the appeal proceedings in the SEC-Ripple case as both parties work on finalizing the $50 million settlement agreement, which positions XRP for a historic regulatory win and market resurgence.

The court's decision follows a joint motion filed earlier this month by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple to put the appeal “in abeyance” at this stage.

As part of Judge Cabranes’ order, the SEC has two months to file a status report to update the court on the progress of the settlement.

As reported by ZyCrypto, the SEC threw out its appeal in the case following the exit of former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Ripple subsequently dismissed its cross-appeal after securing better terms. As part of the resolution, Ripple will forfeit $50 million of its $125 million fine, already in escrow, while the remaining balance ($75 million) will be returned to the blockchain payments firm.

Despite the SEC agreeing to suspend the appeal, the decision must still be approved by the agency’s commissioners, including a vote by the newly confirmed crypto-friendly Chair, Paul Atkins.

SEC approval of the agreement would mark the end of a legal dispute that began in December 2020, when the regulator filed a lawsuit alleging that Ripple had raised $1.3 billion through the sale of unregistered securities since 2013.

July 2023 saw Judge Analisa Torres rule that third-party sales of XRP via exchanges didn’t constitute the offering of unregistered securities. However, the SEC filed its aforementioned appeal more than a year later, contesting that securities law was violated by Ripple’s direct offering of XRP on exchanges, and by personal sales of XRP by executives Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen.

Notably, the regulatory battle had long cast a shadow over XRP. With this appeal now being dropped, the price of XRP could explode upward to fresh all-time highs.

XRP was changing hands at $2.08 at publication time, a 0.6% decline in its valuation over the last 24 hours.