by Iluobe Igho
In a significant development, Ripple Labs has agreed to pay $50 million to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle a long-standing lawsuit. This move has triggered a surge in the price of XRP, which has become the top-performing major cryptocurrency over the past 90 days.
According to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, the settlement is a victory for the company, which had set aside $125 million in escrow for potential penalties. “We’re actually taking most of that back, including the interest that had been earned along the way,” Garlinghouse said in a Fox Business interview. He attributed the favorable outcome to the new leadership at the US SEC and the White House, thanking President Donald Trump for his support.
Read also: Impact of Trump Tariffs on the Crypto Market
Previous U.S SEC leadership “on the wrong side of the law.”
The lawsuit, filed by the SEC in December 2020, claimed that Ripple sold XRP as an unregistered security. But in a partial win for Ripple in 2023, the court ruled that institutional sales of XRP were legal, while sales on public exchanges did violate securities laws.
Garlinghouse believes the settlement is evidence that the previous SEC leadership, under Gary Gensler, was “on the wrong side of the law.”
Ripple’s support for Trump’s presidential campaign, including a reported donation of millions and at least $5 million in XRP tokens to the inauguration, may have played a role in the favorable settlement.
The Trump administration’s U.S SEC has dropped numerous lawsuits and investigations against crypto companies. This has sparked debate about the potential for a more transparent regulatory framework versus accusations of crypto-crony capitalism.
Read also: United States: DeFi projects are not brokers, therefore not taxable.
Ripple poised for expansion; Federal Stablecoin Regulation Expected in the U.S “sooner rather than later.”
With regulatory uncertainty easing, Ripple is poised for expansion. The company recently acquired prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, a move that would have been “impossible a year ago” due to the hostile regulatory environment. This acquisition will enable larger institutions, such as BlackRock, to enter the market with greater confidence.
“We have some of the best talent in the world here. But it made no sense to invest in a market where we couldn’t sign customers,” Garlinghouse said, highlighting the company’s growth potential.
Ripple has also launched a stablecoin with a New York trust license, further increasing its product offerings.
Looking ahead, Garlinghouse expects regulatory clarity to improve in two key areas: stablecoin legislation and market structure bills. He is confident that federal stablecoin legislation will move forward “sooner rather than later.”
Read also: Stablecoins are not securities in the United States– U.S SEC
XRP Price rallies
At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $2.14, reflecting a 2.72% increase over the past week, according to data from CoinGecko. In the last 24 hours, XRP price experienced 0.79%. Current XRP price breakdown:
- Current Price: $2.14
- 24-hour Range: $2.09 – $2.23
- Market Cap: $124.95 billion
- 24-hour Trading Volume: $3.85 billion
- Circulating Supply: 58.33 billion XRP
- Max Supply: 100 billion XRP
It’s worth noting that prices may vary slightly across different exchanges. For instance, Google Finance reported XRP’s price as $2.1803 on April 13, while CoinGecko and Finnhub reported $2.14 on the same day.
Read also: XRP Price Projection: A Potential Surge to $65.63 by 2030?
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