Ripple Labs ‘closes chapter once and for all,’ drops cross appeal against SEC

• The Ripple-SEC case ended seemingly overnight as CEO Brad Garlinghouse formally announced the withdrawal of their cross appeal.
• Previously, Judge Torres had denied a joint settlement motion by the two parties.  

On the 26th of June, XRP traders quickly opted for a brief selling spree after a legal hiccup with Ripple Labs and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit. 

However, soon thereafter, on the 28th of June, Ripple Labs decided to withdraw its cross appeal against the SEC, citing that the latter was expected to do the same.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post on the 28th of June, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse celebrated,

“Ripple is dropping our cross appeal, and the SEC is expected to drop their appeal, as they’ve previously said.”

He wasted no time in mapping the firm’s road ahead and hinted toward their long-term outlook —

“We’re closing this chapter once and for all, and focusing on what’s most important – building the Internet of Value.”

What led to the drop

On the 26th of June, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres had rejected a joint motion by the SEC and Ripple to endorse the firm’s reduced $50 million fine for institutional sale of XRP.  

Ripple was previously slapped with a $125M fine by Judge Torres in 2023 for violating the securities law, for selling XRP to institutional investors. 

Torres said the SEC and Ripple could either withdraw their appeals or appeal her injunction, directing, 

“If the parties genuinely wish to end this litigation today, they are free to withdraw their appeals. Or, if the parties wish to make the Court’s orders to go away, they may… take an appeal. “

On his part, Ripple’s legal chief, Stuart Alderoty, acknowledged the two options but maintained that XRP’s legal status as a ‘non-security’ remained unchanged. 

XRP market reactions

On the 26th of June, once the news of the case broke, XRP quickly spiked as traders as some opted to dump while others scooped up the discounted prices.

The update spiked XRP sentiment to a 17-day high, with relatively bullish comments, noted Santiment. 

However, XRP’s price began to drop afterward, and extended the decline to over 6%. But as of press time, it had risen 3%, settling in to trade at $2.18 and raising hopes of a bullish run to $3.