by Jude Ayua

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s appeal against Ripple Labs is expected to end soon as the SEC is working on a proactive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The SEC launched a new Crypto Task Force in February in line with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Digital Assets. The Executive Order established the President’s Working Group which is tasked with reviewing current frameworks for digital assets and submitting recommendations for policy reforms.

Meanwhile, analysts have predicted that Ripple’s token, XRP, which is the subject of the appeal, could increase to $10 if Ripple wins. This prediction is based on the fact that Ripple’s win would clear regulatory uncertainties around XRP and encourage more institutional interest in the token.

Timeline of Ripple’s case

The US SEC sued Ripple in December 2020 alleging that Ripple publicly offered its XRP token as unregistered securities. In July 2023, a court ruled 2023 that the public offering of XRP did not qualify it as a security. Following the court’s ordering of Ripple to pay $125 million to the US SEC, the SEC appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, claiming the initial fine of $2 billion against Ripple.

Read more: Grayscale, CoinShares join XRP ETF race amid XRP price decline.

Possible end of the lawsuit?

Key developments in January and February 2025 regarding the US SEC’s ongoing crypto-related enforcement actions in court signaled that Ripple may soon reach a settlement with the SEC.

Binance: On 10 February, US SEC and Binance, alongside other Defendants in the SEC’s ongoing case against Binance, jointly applied for a 60-day pause of the case. They submitted that the work of the SEC’s new Crypto Task Force aimed at developing a regulatory framework for crypto assets, may impact their case and potentially facilitate its resolution.

Dragonchain: On 29 January 2025, a court granted a stay of proceedings in the case between US SEC and Dragonchain Inc. First granted in December 2024, Dragonchain applied for another 90-day stay after it expired 27 January. Like Binance, Dragonchain cited President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Digital Assets and the US SEC Acting Chair Mark T Uyeda’s regulatory reforms as possibly impacting the case.

Commenting on SEC and Binance’s proposed pause, Eleanor Terret, Fox Business news reporter, said she expects other non-fraud cases including those of Ripple, Coinbase, and Kraken, “follow suit” in the same manner.

With over 100 enforcement actions brought by the SEC under Chair Gary Gensler, other notable pending cases include Transform Labs’ and Green United’s. It is expected that Ripple and other firms with pending cases may opt for settlement out-of-court. 

Settling these cases would be beneficial to the firms and the SEC as well. With the cases potentially out of the way, the SEC would focus on policy formulation for the crypto sector. US SEC Commissioner Hester M Pierce, Chair of the Task Force, has hinted that the SEC’s enforcement cases are unnecessary and do not benefit the industry.

Read also: Trump’s Executive Order on Digital Assets: Policy Implications XRP soars despite US SEC’s formal appeal against Ripple.

Could XRP reach $10?

While XRP is still recovering from the impacts of DeepSeek AI and President Trump’s tariffs which plunged the global crypto market, analysts predicted it could reach $10 with the culmination of the Ripple and SEC’s lawsuit. 

Currently at $2.5 as of the time of this report, XRP crossed the $1-threshold for the first time in November 2024, since it dropped below the threshold in December 2021. The New York Department of Financial Services Providers’ approval of Ripple’s stablecoin, $RLUSD, in December 2024, significantly boosted XRP’s performance. Another boost for XRP’s price was President Trump’s victory and crypto-related policies including the expected strategic crypto reserve which would prioritize American-founded tokens such as XRP, USD Coin, and Solana.

Although XRP’s is still below its January-2025 high of $3.39, the anticipated end of Ripple’s legal battle could take the token to the predicted price of $10. Other factors such as market volatility and competition also potentially impact the token, even if the legal battle eventually ends in Ripple’s favour. 

Read also: $RLUSD Launch: Ripple gets final approval from NYDFS.    

 

 

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Jude Ayua is a policy analyst at CAB. A lawyer, Jude is an associate at Infusion Lawyers where he is a member of the Blockchain & Virtual Assets Group. He is also a member of the Policy & Regulations Committee of the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SiBAN). Jude reports and writes on crypto policy and regulations. jude@infusionlawyers.com