Ripple’s ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached a decisive point after a $50 million civil penalty was finalized. According to legal expert Bill Morgan, the settlement was signed by Ripple in April and approved by the SEC in May, despite claims online suggesting otherwise.
Recently, the XRP community was agitated after one of the social media users, Karla160, posted an idea that Ripple and the SEC had just proposed the settlement and were still going before the court to see the proposal vested.
Morgan was quick to explain that the deal had already been closed, and the remaining process is the green light from U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres.
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This $50 million is included under a financial plan that would entail the current lawsuit. In August 2024, Judge Torres directed Ripple to put $125 million in escrow after she ruled that Ripple had been engaged in unregistered security sales under institutional sales of XRP.
Following the lengthy negotiations, Ripple had initially offered to pay the lesser amount of only a $10 million penalty, but eventually agreed to pay the higher penalty of $50 million. The escrow account will cover the funds, and the balance of $75 million will go back to Ripple.
Ripple Seeks End to XRP Sales Ban with Final Court Decision Pending
Aside from the financial agreement, the settlement includes a request to lift the injunction currently restricting Ripple from selling XRP to institutional investors. If the court grants approval, Ripple would be able to resume those sales under clearly defined legal terms.
The move may help to become a breakthrough in Ripple’s business and its relations with institutional partners. The court’s endorsement would give the firm greater flexibility in dealing with regulated investors within the reach of the law.
Related to this development, the SEC has also dismissed its appeal of Judge Torres’s decision in July 2023. That earlier decision found that Ripple’s programmatic XRP sales to retail investors via exchanges were not securities transactions. In March 2025, the SEC withdrew, and Ripple withdrew its cross-appeal in response.
Having both sides agree not to appeal further, as well as having the penalty deal approved by Judge Torres, would end a case that has defined how crypto regulations have been dealt with in the U.S. since December 2020.
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