The dry affair against Ripple arrives at a decisive turning point. After more than four years of legal confrontation, the American commission for securities and exchange (sec) seems ready to close this emblematic file.
A trial that is coming to an end, but at what price?
In December 2020, the SEC launched prosecution against Ripple Labs, and accused the company of having lifted funds illegally by selling XRP as not registered title. The case has gained considerable scale due to the regulatory uncertainty that surrounded the cryptos industry. After several years of judicial procedures and twists and turns, the judgment of August 2024 marked a decisive turn, because a court ruled that XRP programmatic sales on exchange platforms did not constitute an offer of financial securities, but still condemned Ripple to a fine of $ 125 million.
Eleanor Terrett, Fox Business journalist, in a publication on the X platform (ex Twitter) dated March 12 noted That the case between the dry of Ripple is “being settled”, after the two parties posted a appeal and a counter-appeal with regard to the judgment of $ 125 million rendered in August 2024.
Ripple and the SEC each challenged this verdict, which led to a series of calls and counter-appeals. The Chief Legal Officer of Ripple, Stuart Alderoty, said that the case was now “much more advanced than other actions abandoned by the dry”. He adds that Ripple remained “optimistic about a quick resolution”. If the two parties abandon their appeals, the judgment at first instance will be maintained. On the other hand, in the event of disagreement on the fine, Ripple and the SEC will have to return to a judge for a possible renegotiation.
Between policy and regulation: a decision with deep ramifications
If the end of this trial constitutes a relief for Ripple and its investors, it also triggers questions about timing and actual motivations of the dry. For several months, the American regulator has abandoned several legal actions against major actors from the crypto such as Coinbase, Kraken and Consensys, which has translated a notable change of CAP under the Trump presidency. An element fuels controversy: the financial links between Ripple and certain republican political groups.
Ripple has contributed $ 45 million to Fairshake, a political action committee influenced in the last US elections, and paid $ 5 million for Trump's presidential inauguration. Some observers see it as a possible conflict of interest, especially when you know that other crypto companies having supported Trump, such as Coinbase, have also seen their things stop. However, Alderoty rejects these accusations, and affirms that “the decision of the SEC is independent of any political pressure and reflects a change of perspective on the crypto industry”.
With the end of this trial, the coming months will be decisive for the cryptos industry. If the SEC reduces its regulatory aggressiveness, this could encourage more companies to establish themselves in the United States, instead of operating in a gray legal area. On the other hand, if the agreement between Ripple and the SEC includes major concessions, this could set a precedent for other to come. Be that as it may, this case constitutes a change in the relationship between American regulators and the crypto ecosystem, and could well redesign the contours of regulation in the years to come.
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