Spot XRP ETF Path Made Clear After Ripple CEO Confirms Ending SEC Case ‘Once And For All’

The nearly five-year legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears to be finally coming to an end after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced Friday that the company plans to drop its cross-appeal in the prolonged case.

Ripple And SEC To Withdraw Respective Appeals

“Ripple is dropping our cross appeal, and the SEC is expected to drop their appeal, as they’ve previously said,” Garlinghouse wrote in a post on X. “We’re closing this chapter once and for all, and focusing on what’s most important— building the Internet of Value. Lock in.”

The announcement comes just a day after U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres denied a joint bid from Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission to slash a $125 million penalty and toss out a permanent injunction imposed against the blockchain payments company last year.

That decision followed less than two weeks after the SEC and Ripple asked that the court reduce the civil penalty over illegal XRP sales to $50 million, significantly less than the $2 billion sought under former Chair Gary Gensler.

The legal drama between Ripple and the SEC has been going on for years since December 2020, when the regulator accused the XRP-linked firm of raising $1.3 billion through an unregistered securities offering. In 2023, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP on crypto exchanges did not break securities laws. 

Torres did, however, rule that other direct sales of the token to institutional investors qualified as securities. Ripple was fined $125 million and banned from similar sales. Both Ripple and the SEC agreed to allow $50 million of the initially-imposed $125 million fine to go to the SEC, with the remaining $75 million to be returned to the San Francisco-based company, though they have encountered pushback in court over the past month.

Closed Chapter Clears Way For Spot XRP ETFs

XRP was changing hands around $2.19 on Saturday, reflecting a 5% increase over the past 24 hours, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. The token is up a whopping 358% over the past year.

According to Nate Geraci, the President of ETF Store, the conclusion of the case effectively removes the regulatory hurdle blocking the approval of U.S.-listed spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Over nine asset managers have so far filed for XRP ETF products in the US, including major issuers like Bitwise, ProShares, 21Shares, and Franklin Templeton. Despite the growing XRP ETF filing frenzy, BlackRock — issuer of the largest spot Bitcoin ETF — has yet to submit paperwork for an XRP-based investment vehicle.

Geraci believes that with no regulatory obstacles in sight, BlackRock could soon apply with the SEC to introduce an ETF tied to the industry’s fourth-largest crypto by market cap.