XRP Escape! SEC Surrenders (Sort Of) 🚀

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In what can only be described as a mildly surprising turn of events, Ripple Labs and their digital chum, XRP, have seemingly negotiated a truce with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A truce involving, naturally, vast sums of money 💰. It appears their prolonged legal squabble is, dare we say, approaching its end.

Ending Prolonged Legal Battle (Or Is It?) 🤔

As the intrepid Fox Journalist Eleanor Terret reported (presumably with a slightly raised eyebrow), Ripple has agreed to, well, not appeal. And they’ll cough up a mere $50 million, a paltry sum compared to the originally demanded $125 million. The SEC, in a fit of magnanimity (or perhaps exhaustion), has also hinted they might ask Judge Torres to lift that pesky ‘obey the law’ injunction. Because, you know, asking nicely usually works.

This whole affair, which kicked off in the distant past of 2020, involved the SEC suggesting Ripple was selling unregistered securities through XRP. The cheek of it!

According to Terret’s highly insightful insights, once the Commission has finished bickering amongst themselves and actually votes on it, this whole mess *should* be resolved. Allowing the blockchain payment company to, you guessed it, move forward. One hopes they remember to pack a towel.

Despite the legal fees, which reportedly ranged from “eye-watering” to “utterly ridiculous” ($150 million to $200 million, if you must know), Ripple finds itself back where it started. The SEC, meanwhile, has presumably burned through a significant portion of taxpayer dollars chasing its own tail. A noble pursuit, some might say. Others might suggest there are better things to do with public funds. Like, I don’t know, funding a study on the migratory patterns of staplers 📎.

Ripple’s Legal Victory: Clarity For XRP (Maybe?) 🤷

The legal shenanigans did rather unkind things to XRP holders. Various exchanges, including the usual suspects like Binance, eToro, and Coinbase, decided to give XRP the cold shoulder, leading to a rather dramatic dip in its market value. Oh dear.

This whole saga also scared the living daylights out of other cryptocurrency projects, who suddenly became acutely aware of the potential legal wrath of the SEC, then under the watchful eye of one Gary Gensler. Paranoia is a survival trait, after all.

As Terret helpfully pointed out, many have accused SEC Chair Gary Gensler of being somewhat distracted by chasing crypto firms for not filling out the right forms, thereby eroding public trust. Because, let’s be honest, filling out forms is the cornerstone of public trust. Right? 🙄

The agency has also been gently reminded that perhaps they overlooked a few slightly larger issues, such as the spectacular implosions of crypto exchange FTX and crypto lender Celsius. Events which, as you can imagine, caused investors to experience a mild case of financial discomfort.

But fear not, for Ripple has found a silver lining! According to Terret (who is rapidly becoming the star of this show), they’re paying a smaller fine and might even dodge that ongoing injunction. A victory of sorts! 🎉

Additionally, Ripple can take the credit for establishing some legal clarity regarding the programmatic and secondary market sales of XRP. A ruling that, remarkably, remains unchallenged. For now.

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter, now apparently just a letter), to express a modicum of optimism, suggesting this might be his final update on the SEC case. Famous last words, of course. 💬

Alderoty confirmed that the SEC has agreed to wave the white flag without conditions, and Ripple will reciprocate. The SEC gets to keep $50 million, conveniently already sitting in an interest-bearing escrow account. The rest goes back to Ripple. One imagines there will be a celebratory tea party.

At the time of writing, XRP is changing hands at approximately $2.45, a 9% increase over the past seven days. It’s inching ever closer to its record high of $3.40, achieved during the heady days of the 2018 bull run. Whether it will reach that summit again is, as they say, anyone’s guess. And frankly, I wouldn’t trust anyone’s guess. Especially not mine. 🤪

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2025-03-26 08:14