Fintech firm Ripple has dropped its cross-appeal in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that spanned four years, marking a major milestone in discussions to officially end the lawsuit.
Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty announced the development Tuesday, revealing that the company will pay only $50 million from the initial fine of $125 million.
Ripple Nears End of SEC Case Conclusion
In his announcement, Alderoty said the news may be his "last update on SEC v Ripple ever," adding that after the SEC agreed to drop its appeal in the lawsuit "without conditions" last week, there will be a concession.
"The agency will also ask the Court to lift the standard injunction that was imposed earlier at the SEC's request," he said. An injunction is a court order that usually compels an entity or individual to either cease or move forward with a specified action.
The final crossing of t’s and dotting of i’s – and what should be my last update on SEC v Ripple ever…
— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) March 25, 2025
Last week, the SEC agreed to drop its appeal without conditions. @Ripple has now agreed to drop its cross-appeal. The SEC will keep $50M of the $125M fine (already in an…
Specifically, the injunction stated that Ripple can't offer XRP to institutional investors even as the XRP token has been designated by the judge as a non-security when sold on exchanges.
If the injunction is lifted, Ripple may soon be able to offer XRP to institutional investors, at a time when crypto users are waiting for updates on XRP ETF (exchange-traded fund) applications.
Alderoty did note that everything agreed upon so far is still subject to a Commission vote.
$XRP Army Hails Vindication After $XRP's Years-Long Struggle
As soon as Alderoty's post spread across social media, XRP users, popularly called the XRP Army, huddled in the comments section to express their thoughts on the impending resolution of the case.
Xena, a popular figure in the XRP army, thanked Alderoty for the work he and the Ripple legal team did to fight the lawsuit.
One user was less pleased due to the supposed lack of accountability on the SEC's side. "@SECGov should've been sued for the damages caused for everyone," the user said, referring to the billions in market cap wiped out from the XRP token after the SEC filed the lawsuit late in 2020.
All of this is awesome to hear but, how about the people who are in since 2017, for example? Invested their economies with the expectation of get some gains back? I’m one of them. @SECGov should’ve been sued for the damages caused for everyone.
— Crypto news gems (@Cryptonewsgems) March 25, 2025
Another XRP holder said now that the case is nearing its end, there's "nothing holding XRP back now."
Absolutely 💯 brilliant. Nothing holding XRP back now.
— CaptJackTurner (@XRPOrbit) March 25, 2025
XRP, the native cryptocurrency of the XRP Ledger, whose development is being overseen by Ripple, has had a rough four years since the lawsuit.
From a price downturn below $1 to difficulties scaling due to the legal constraints, and a long road toward hitting $2 again, Ripple has become the comeback story of crypto in 2024. It is also the largest known corporate holder of the XRP coin.
The token is currently trading at around $2.40 and saw a slight bump after Alderoty's big news.
Prominent crypto lawyer Fred Rispoli said someone should "reach out to all the attorneys at the SEC that spent thousands of hours on this case" and ask them how it feels to see their hard work "wiped out in an instant."
It remains to be seen when the case will completely end as the parties still need to go through the usual court processes in ending a lawsuit.
