Ripple Slashes SEC Battle With $50M Settlement—Regulatory Handcuffs Coming Off

After years of legal wrangling, Ripple’s $50 million penalty to the SEC marks the endgame—and the market’s already pricing in the injunction lift. Wall Street lawyers, meanwhile, are scrambling to bill those ’crypto compliance’ hours.

Key points:

- The settlement avoids further courtroom drama but sets a costly precedent

- XRP holders cheer as the ’security’ cloud dissipates

- SEC keeps its enforcement bragging rights (despite the bruised ego)

Funny how a few zeroes can make regulators suddenly see the ’utility’ in blockchain innovation.

Key Takeaways:

• Ripple and the SEC have reached a comprehensive settlement to resolve their longstanding legal dispute.
• Under the deal, Ripple will pay $50 million to the SEC, and the remaining $75 million from escrow will be returned to Ripple.
• Both parties are seeking an indicative ruling from Judge Analisa Torres to finalize the agreement and dissolve the existing injunction.

After nearly five years of legal conflict, Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have jointly submitted a motion to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York signaling the end of their courtroom saga.

The motion outlines a settlement in which Ripple will pay $50 million in civil penalties to the SEC. The remaining balance from a previously escrowed $125 million will be returned to Ripple.

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP BREAKING: The @SECGov has filed the Settlement Agreement Letter. https://t.co/eXuWjyQECc

The suggested resolution is after an extended appeals procedure initiated after Judge Analisa Torres delivered a mixed decision in July 2023.

In that ruling, the company was declared to have broken Section 5 of the Securities Act in some cases, but not in others. Final judgment against Ripple was entered in August 2024, which ordered a $125 million fine and putting the money in escrow.

The filing calls for an indicative ruling under Federal Civil Procedure Rule 62.1. This WOULD enable both sides to head back from the court of appeal and proceed to legally unwind the injunction levied upon Ripple. The move would cut short pending litigation in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals considerably.

Ripple Settlement Finalized After Months of Negotiation

The new motion is the result of an extended period of good-faith negotiations spanning months between Ripple, the SEC, and Ripple executives Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen.

All signatories agreed to the final agreement on May 8, 2025, after obtaining SEC staff approval. It is clearly mentioned in the agreement that both the parties would not make any effort to revise or challenge any portion of Judge Torres’ prior summary judgment.

The $50 million payout is consistent with statutory authority under 15 U.S.C. § 77t(d), confirming the legitimacy of the new sanction. Significantly, the court is being requested to authorize the same on grounds that the settlement is reasonable, just, and in the public interest, principles sustained in precedents such as the Second Circuit’s 2014 ruling in the Citigroup Global Markets case.

What’s Coming Next

If the indicative ruling is issued, the case would go back temporarily before Judge Torres for the enforcement of the settlement. Upon release of funds and lifting of the injunction, both would drop their pending appeals. This would finish one of the most closely followed enforcement actions in crypto history.

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