$75M Win for XRP in SEC Lawsuit Victory: Ripple Brad Garlinghouse Calls SEC’s Retreat a “Long Overdue Surrender”

The Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, has announced an update for the SEC Ripple lawsuit. This update confirms the end of this four-year-long legal battle and clarifies some of the details of the settlement. The lawsuit started under the previous SEC leader, who was infamous for his scrutiny of crypto companies. However, his attitude towards this industry was not an exception, as the last American administration was known as anti-crypto. 

SEC vs. Ripple: From $2 Billion to $50 Million Fine

SEC’s case against Ripple was first started when this company was accused of selling XRP without registering it as a security. Based on the case against XRP, the SEC wanted a $2 billion fine from the company. However, later, a judge reduced this fine to only $150 million but banned any institutional purchase of the XRP token. This ruling was given despite the judge’s acknowledgement that the XRP token “is not necessarily a security on its face.”. As of now, this limitation still remains, and no updates have been given regarding a change in this court ruling.

Stuart Alderoty: Ripple’s $75M Win and Final SEC Showdown

In an X post, Stuart Alderoty shared the positive news with the community and insisted that the case’s reasoning was wrong. He stated that the fine was cut down from the previous ruling of $125 million to $50 million. Although this fine was already paid by Ripple to the New York court in August. As such, the court will be returning $75 million of the fine to the crypto giant.

The final crossing of t’s and dotting of i’s – and what should be my last update on SEC v Ripple ever…

Last week, the SEC agreed to drop its appeal without conditions. @Ripple has now agreed to drop its cross-appeal. The SEC will keep $50M of the $125M fine (already in an…

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) March 25, 2025

Based on the statement, this also means that Ripple will be dropping its cross-appeal of District Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling. As such, this marks the end of the turmoil between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This update comes after we also got an announcement from Ripple Brad Garlinghouse, the company’s CEO. In his statement, he also announced the end of the SEC Ripple lawsuit and called it “long overdue surrender”. 

Doubts Turn to Hope: Trump’s Flip on Crypto

This development was expected by the community as the climate of the USA’s regulatory space was already signaling a pro-crypto change. This change came after the reelection of Donald Trump, who had made his pro-crypto stance known beforehand. Many were calling his 180 flip on crypto a sham and believed that there were just lies. However, as Trump took office, his administration has shown efforts to establish a better environment for crypto growth. Before Trump entered the office, the US Securities and Exchange Commission experienced a pro-crypto transformation as well. 

SEC Shake-Up Sparks Softer Approach to Crypto

After the previous SEC chair, Gary Gensler, stepped down, Mark Uyeda took his place. Since then, the SEC has shown a great change in attitude.  This change was exemplified in the SEC’s actions as it dropped and paused its cases against several crypto companies. Two of the most notable examples were the lawsuits against the crypto giants Kraken and Coinbase crypto exchanges. In Alderoty’s X announcement, it was also mentioned that this decision will be put to a Commission vote. This process for the further approval of this decision was also mentioned in a video announcement by Ripple Brad Garlinghouse. 

Historic Change Unfolds: Ripple’s Win Reshapes Crypto

Based on a separate statement by a Ripple spokesperson, the timeline for the official announcement from the SEC is unknown. As the SEC is entirely in control of the time of withdrawal, it might take weeks. Nonetheless, this is a historical change in the legal and regulatory attitude towards the crypto industry. This also helps to set a precedent in the various official departments, significantly changing the reputation of crypto.