The long-standing legal dispute between Ripple Labs and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially concluded on August 7th.
Both the SEC and Ripple jointly requested the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to dismiss their respective cases. The court granted this request, stipulating that each side would bear its own legal expenses.
Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, announced the resolution via X, stating, “Following the Commission’s vote, the SEC and Ripple jointly filed with the Second Circuit to dismiss their appeals.”
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The legal action commenced in 2020, with the SEC alleging that Ripple and two executives engaged in the unregistered sale of XRP tokens. Ripple countered, asserting that XRP should not be classified as a security.
Back in April, both the SEC and Ripple petitioned the court to temporarily halt the appeals process, ultimately proposing a settlement in May. This settlement involved Ripple’s agreement to pay a $125 million penalty, which was subsequently placed in an escrow account.
However, Judge Analisa Torres opted against loosening the regulations concerning Ripple’s institutional XRP sales. The judge specified that the company must still adhere to securities regulations, even as there seemed to be a shift in the SEC’s general enforcement strategy.
With the dismissal of the appeals, the $125 million penalty will now be transferred to the US Treasury. The court order restricting Ripple’s large-scale XRP sales to institutional clients will remain in effect.
Separately, on August 6th, Roman Storm was convicted of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and received a five-year sentence. Want details on how this case played out? See the complete report here.