In a long-awaited conclusion to their high-profile legal clash, Ripple Labs and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reached a settlement that will see the blockchain company pay $125 million in civil penalties.
Ripple-SEC Legal Saga Ends
According to the court ruling, the key points of the settlement are as follows:
- Ripple will pay $125,035,150 in civil penalties to the SEC, a significant reduction from the regulator’s original $2 billion demand.
- Ripple was found to have violated securities laws through its “Institutional Sales” of the XRP cryptocurrency, which the court deemed to be unregistered investment contracts.
- However, the court ruled that Ripple’s “Programmatic Sales” and “Other Distributions” of XRP did not constitute unregistered securities offerings.
- The court also determined that the individual XRP sales by Ripple co-founders Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse were not investment contract offerings, for “substantially the same reasons” as the Programmatic Sales.
XRP Price Soars 20%
In its analysis, the court noted that while Ripple’s “repeated and lucrative violations of securities laws were a serious offense,” the case did not involve allegations of fraud, misappropriation or other more egregious misconduct. Additionally, the court found that the SEC had not proved that Ripple’s actions caused substantial losses or risk to investors.
Ultimately, the settlement marks a significant, if not total, victory for the blockchain payment company, which had fought the SEC’s allegations that XRP was an unregistered security. The company can now move forward without the cloud of legal uncertainty hanging over its business.
As news of the end of this legal battle unfolded, the price of XRP skyrocketed 20% at the time of writing, trading at $0.6056, after hitting a 1-month low of $0.4315 on Monday amid the broader market crash.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com