XRP Token Rises After Report That Ripple's Close to Wrapping Up SEC Case

The long-running legal showdown between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could soon reach a resolution, Fox Business reported, citing "two well-placed sources."

The case, which has dragged on since December 2020 when the SEC accused Ripple of raising over $1.3 billion through unregistered sales of its closely related XRP token, may finally be wrapping up — though not without last-minute wrangling over its terms.

Sources told Fox that Ripple’s legal team is pushing to renegotiate aspects of a pivotal 2023 ruling by District Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York (SDNY). That decision ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million penalty for its institutional XRP sales, which the court deemed unregistered securities offerings while sparing the company the nearly $2 billion fine the SEC had demanded. The SEC appealed Torres' ruling shortly before former Chair Gary Gensler stepped down.

Torres' ruling was widely considered to be a win for Ripple at the time it was issued, because the court decided that its programmatic sales of XRP to exchanges for purchase by retail traders did not constitute securities transactions. However, now that the SEC and its new leadership is in a full-scale retreat from many of its investigations into crypto companies, and has agreed to drop ongoing enforcement suits against companies like Coinbase, Cumberland DRW and Kraken, Ripple's partial victory may not taste quite as sweet.

XRP climbed 3% on the news.

A representative for Ripple did not respond to CoinDesk's request for comment by press time.

Read more: Ripple Plans 'Cross-Appeal' in SEC Case