Key Takeaways:

• Ripple and the SEC have jointly dropped their appeals, officially ending the legal battle over XRP.
  
• Judge Analisa Torres’ 2023 ruling is now final, stating that XRP is not a security when sold on public exchanges.
  
• Ripple will pay a 125 million dollar fine, significantly lower than the SEC’s original demand.
  
• The lawsuit closure aligns with a broader regulatory shift under the current Trump administration.
  
• XRP has surged nearly 99 percent since April, fueled by investor optimism surrounding the resolution of the case.

Ripple and SEC End Legal Fight as Appeals Are Dismissed in XRP Case

After nearly five years of courtroom battles, Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have officially ended their legal dispute over the classification of XRP. On Thursday, both parties filed a joint request to dismiss their respective appeals, bringing the case to a definitive close.

Both SEC & Ripple filed a joint request to dismiss their respective appeals, bringing the case to a definitive close. Source: Coinpedia

The filing was submitted to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and confirmed that each party will cover its own legal costs. Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, announced the news on X with a brief message: “The end… and now back to business.”

This dismissal means that the July 2023 ruling from Judge Analisa Torres in New York will stand as the final decision in the case. That ruling marked a partial victory for Ripple and became a pivotal moment in the broader debate over crypto regulation in the United States.

XRP Ruling Becomes Final as Regulatory Landscape Shifts

In the 2023 ruling, Judge Torres concluded that XRP sold to the public on exchanges did not qualify as a security. However, XRP sold directly to institutional investors did violate federal securities laws due to its investment contract nature.

Judge Analisa Torres. Source: Coingape

Ripple was ordered to pay a 125 million dollar fine, far lower than the 2 billion dollars originally sought by the SEC. The agency appealed in October, and Ripple responded with a cross appeal. By April 2025, both sides had paused proceedings, and signs of a settlement began to emerge.

Now that both appeals have been dropped, Judge Torres’ opinion becomes the final word on how XRP is treated under U.S. law. The case sets a significant legal precedent for how other tokens may be assessed in future enforcement actions.

The decision to dismiss the appeal comes during a period of regulatory shift in Washington. Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, federal regulators, including the SEC, have begun softening their approach to crypto enforcement. Trump has promised to protect the digital asset industry from what he calls overregulation, and several high-profile crypto lawsuits have quietly been dropped in recent months.

XRP Price Rises as Market Responds to Lawsuit Closure

News of the legal closure has added fresh momentum to XRP’s recent price rally. According to CoinGecko, XRP surged from a low of 1.79 dollars in April 2025 to a peak of 3.56 dollars in late July. The token briefly dipped below 3 dollars after the market cooled, but has since rebounded to 3.31 dollars, marking a daily increase of more than 10 percent.

Investors view the end of the Ripple case as a long-awaited clarity signal for crypto markets, particularly for projects facing uncertainty around token classification. With the legal cloud lifted, Ripple appears ready to refocus on its core business and international expansion.