Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has reacted to the final judgment, framing the outcome as a "victory" for his company and the entire industry.
Garlinghouse has also added that the agency's "headwinds" against XRP holders are now gone.
The XRP token is up more than 17% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.
As reported by U.Today, the judge ordered Ripple to pay $125 million worth of civil penalties.
Garlinghouse has noted that this huge sum is actually only a fraction of what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission initially requested. The SEC wanted the San Francisco-based company to fork out as much as $2 billion worth of fines and penalties. The agency argued that this would deter Ripple and other industry participants from violating security laws and in the future while also compensating for the harm caused by the company's actions.
Valeria BlokhinaHowever, since Ripple was not accused of fraud or misappropriation, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres opted for significantly smaller penalties. At the same time, she acknowledged that Ripple's violations of Section 5 are a "serious offense."
Still, the final penalties are still significantly larger than the $10 million that Ripple was advocating for.
Analyst James Seyffart also agrees that this outcome can be viewed as a win for Ripple despite the relatively hefty penalties.
"I'm sure the SEC will refer to this as a win for getting a $125 million penalty. But that's really a win for Ripple as far as I'm concerned," he said in a social media post.
Ripple is now required to pay the aforementioned penalties in 30 days.
"We respect the $125M fine the Court has imposed for certain historic sales to sophisticated third parties," Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's top lawyer, said on X.
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen took to the X social media network to celebrate that the SEC's "unhinged" campaign against the company is "finally over." However, it should be noted that the SEC might still end up appealing the case.
Mushumir Butt
Gamza Khanzadaev