Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer announced today that its XRP lawsuit with the SEC is approaching the final legal phase. The SEC will keep $50 million from the previous $125 million fine and return the rest to Ripple.
Most importantly, Ripple will likely be able to offer XRP tokens to institutional investors, which could impact market liquidity and ETF approval odds.
A Final Chapter to Ripple Vs SEC
The Ripple vs SEC lawsuit was one of the most important crypto enforcement actions of Gary Gensler’s time as Chair, and the last questions are being answered.
Last week, the Commission officially dropped its lawsuit, marking the end of an era. Now, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer is giving “what should be [his] last update ever” on the case.
“Last week, the SEC agreed to drop its appeal without conditions. Ripple has now agreed to drop its cross-appeal. The SEC will keep $50 million of the $125 million fine (already in an interest-bearing escrow in cash), with the balance returned to Ripple. The agency will also ask the Court to lift the standard injunction that was imposed earlier at the SEC’s request,” he said.
Specifically, this cross-appeal contains two crucial components. First, it involves the $125 million fine. The initial community expectation was that the Commission would forfeit the entirety of this fine. However, it seems that both parties have reached an agreement on this matter.
Another critical ruling in the 2024 decision was that Ripple could not sell XRP to institutional investors. The firm had reportedly been negotiating with the SEC to drop this mandate for weeks.
According to reports, this ruling is also being overturned as part of the agreement. In the long run, the lifted restrictions may have a much larger impact. Now that the SEC will let Ripple sell XRP to institutional investors, it could bring significant liquidity, partnership opportunities, and more.
In particular, this decision may also impact XRP’s status as a security or commodity. The SEC was already considering Ripple’s arguments to declare XRP a commodity, and this move may add further weight to the argument. This would also likely improve XRP ETF approval odds.
Meanwhile, XRP was largely priced in. The altcoin remains nearly 10% up in the past week, but still struggling to breach $2.50.
Over the past week, the XRP community has expressed some concerns regarding the extremely low DEX trading volume on the network. Yet, Ripple’s new progress with the SEC may create plenty of opportunities to foster bullish sentiment in the long-term.
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