XRP Rises as SEC Ends Appeal Against Ripple: A Watershed Moment for Crypto

 The cryptocurrency market was fire as XRP, Ripple's native coin, skyrocketed over 14% to $2.57. What is the catalyst? Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its appeal in the high-profile legal dispute against the business.

A four-year battle has come to an end

Garlinghouse spoke at the Digital Assets Summit in New York, reflecting on the lengthy court battle that has lasted over four years. "It's been almost four years and about three months since the SEC originally sued us, certainly a painful journey in lots of ways," . However, he maintained that Ripple was on the "right side of the law and the right side of history."

Ripple has long contended that the SEC's case against them was defective, pointing out that there were no victims or investor losses from XRP sales. Garlinghouse slammed the regulatory agency for "not acting in good faith" and accusing it of launching a war on the cryptocurrency business rather than safeguarding investors.

The Court Case and Its Consequences

In 2020, the SEC filed its first lawsuit against Ripple, claiming that the firm had sold XRP without the required registration, in violation of U.S. securities laws. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres decided in 2023 that XRP was not a security when it was offered to regular investors on exchanges, but transactions to institutional investors were considered unregistered securities offerings, which was a partial success for Ripple.

The crypto industry celebrated this decision as a major victory, and it established a precedent that has since affected other court decisions. The SEC's decision to withdraw its appeal now solidifies that victory and lifts a major cloud over XRP's prospects.

A Regulatory Environment That Is Changing

The SEC's retraction on XRP is a component of a larger change in the way the agency enforces laws pertaining to cryptocurrency. The SEC has recently moved to undo aggressive measures from prior years, such as:

Closing the enforcement action against Coinbase

Uniswap, Consensys, Gemini, and Robinhood's crypto unit probes are being closed without taking any enforcement action.

Reducing the size of its crypto enforcement division

Making it clear that memes are not securities

To further clarify the security status of digital assets, the recently established SEC crypto task group is holding a number of roundtables.

The Rapid Increase in XRP

In what some refer to as the "post-election Trump trade," XRP has emerged as the largest beneficiary. XRP has increased by almost 400% since the election, and it has gained 22% in 2024 alone. The biggest XRP holder, Ripple, is still growing its cross-border payments business, with 95% of its activities occurring outside of the United States.

Concluding remarks

An important development in the regulatory struggle of the cryptocurrency sector is the SEC's decision to withdraw its appeal against Ripple. This win suggests a more balanced strategy going ahead, even if there is still ambiguity around the larger regulatory framework for digital assets. All eyes are on how investors, authorities, and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole will adjust to this new reality as XRP continues on its upward trajectory.