U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins has commented on the long-awaited resolution of the legal battle with enterprise blockchain company Ripple.
"With this chapter closed, we now have an opportunity to shift our energy from the courtroom to the policy drafting table," Atkins, a pro-cryptocurrency libertarian, said in a social media post.
A four-year legal saga
The SEC took Ripple to court back in December 2020 under the leadership of former Chair Jay Clayton. The lawsuit was brought during one of Clayton's last days on the job.
Ripple (as well as CEO Brad Garlinghouse and chairman Chris Larsen) were accused of selling unregistered securities.
Even though some community members initially pinned their hopes on crypto-savvy Chair Gary Gensler to save the day, his agency doubled down on regulation by enforcement.
After countless twists and turns, the company ended up emerging victorious in July 2023, with District Judge Analisa Torres determining that secondary XRP sales were not actually securities.
In August 2024, Judge Torres issued her final judgment, which imposed a $125 million fine on Ripple as well as a permanent injunction barring Ripple from selling XRP tokens to institutions in the U.S.
It seemed like the saga was finally over, but Gensler's SEC ended up filing an appeal in October, which was shortly followed by Ripple's cross-appeal.
The long-awaited resolution
Following Gensler's departure in January, Ripple and the SEC ended up reaching a settlement agreement that would reduce the penalty and remove the injunction, but Judge Torres refused to modify the final ruling.
Ripple, unsurprisingly, opted to withdraw its cross-appeal, and the SEC reciprocated earlier this August, officially putting an end to the grueling legal battle.
"Last week, the SEC's case against Ripple was finally laid to rest," Commissioner Hester Peirce said in her social media post.
Periece ha stressed that "once occupied with litigation now can concentrate on creating a clear regulatory framework for crypto."
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team