SEC Finally Drops Ripple Lawsuit After 4-Year Grind—Is Crypto Regulation Finally Growing Up?

After four years of legal wrangling, the SEC just threw in the towel on its high-profile case against Ripple. Was this a sign of regulatory clarity—or just Wall Street’s usual ’act first, ask questions later’ approach finally catching up with crypto?

Key takeaways: The case hinged on whether XRP was a security (spoiler: the courts said ’not always’). Ripple’s partial victory last year already sent shockwaves—now the full retreat by regulators might signal a more pragmatic stance.

Meanwhile, bankers who still think blockchain is just ’that thing the kids use to buy JPEGs’ are scrambling to update their PowerPoint decks. Again.

Ripple’s CLO celebrates courtroom victory

Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, posted a one-minute video on X explaining why the SEC decided to close the case after more than four years.

He said, 

“The SEC has not only dropped its appeal against Ripple, they’ve now dropped every case against every crypto company in the United States. Why? Because the SEC has admitted what we’ve always been saying, that you can’t bring enforcement actions for violating the law without first explaining what the law is. And we never had clear laws, rules, and regulations regarding crypto in this country.”

He added, 

“So we’re going to clean up the mess. We’re going to get out of the courtroom. We’re going to get back to running business.”

What is he asking for?

Alderoty envisions a future driven by clear and intelligent crypto regulation, something he believes the U.S. Congress must help achieve through meaningful collaboration, a process already underway.

Beyond Ripple’s legal win, Alderoty highlighted broader industry priorities, including enforcing safeguards against bad actors and actively promoting innovation.

He aims to replace regulatory confrontation with constructive policy-building to ensure the long-term growth and legitimacy of the digital asset space.

XRP’s price action and other developments surrounding Ripple Labs

This coincided with Ripple’s strategic growth post-lawsuit, despite ongoing regulatory uncertainties.

As of the latest update, XRP traded at $2.20, with a slight 0.20% dip over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

Additionally, the firm also accelerated its expansion, making headlines with its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, signaling strong ambition in the M&A space.

However, the SEC continues to delay decisions on key crypto ETFs, including Franklin Templeton’s spot ETFs for XRP and Solana (SOL), with the verdict now set for 17th June.

Hence, with so much unfolding at Ripple Labs, it will be interesting to see how things progress and impact both XRP’s price and the ETF decision.