A federal judge has ordered Ripple to pay $125 million in civil penalties and imposed a ban on future violations of securities law. Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York imposed the fine after determining that 1,278 institutional sales of Ripple breached securities laws. She added that the company is “permanently restricted and penalized” for breaking U.S. securities laws in the case brought by the SEC.

Related news: Legal Drama - SEC Lawsuit against Ripple

While $125 million might sound like a hefty sum, executives are calling it a “win” for the industry. It seems the Ripple vs. SEC case is nearing its end, with no clear indication that XRP will be classified as a security.

Wednesday’s injunction follows a July 2023 ruling on the same case, which found that Ripple violated federal securities laws by directly selling XRP to institutional clients.

However, the judge also ruled that Ripple's sales of XRP to retail customers through exchanges didn't violate any securities laws. The SEC’s attempt to appeal this part of the ruling was unsuccessful as the case continued.

Judge Torres also prohibited Ripple from future violations of federal securities laws, stating that while she does not judge whether Ripple broke any laws after the SEC filed its lawsuit, the company could potentially “cross the line” regarding its “on-demand liquidity” offerings.

The court order requires Ripple to file for registration if it plans to sell any securities.

Why Ripple Considers This a Win

The $125.035 million fine is a far cry from the $1 billion in illegal gains and interest the SEC initially sought, or the $900 million in civil penalties they demanded. 

Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse took to X shortly after to declare,

“This is a win for Ripple, the industry, and the rule of law. The SEC’s resistance to the XRP community has faded away.”

XRP surged 26% to $0.63 on the news, recovering much of its losses from the broader crypto downturn since August 5, according to CoinMarketCap.

At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.59.

coinmarketcap.com/currencies/xrp/
Source: CoinMarketCap


The crypto community has rallied behind Ripple's victory in their long-standing battle, predicting that this is just the beginning of a price surge. Crypto lawyer and Hodl Law founder Fred Rispoli wrote:

“Overall, this is a HUGE win for Ripple. While I’m surprised by the $125 million figure, Ripple has more than earned this price movement for XRP in the last 5 minutes.”

Crypto researcher Ripple Van Winkle also shared the excitement with his over 100,000 followers:

But don’t get too excited and pop a bottle of champagne for the first victim of Gary Gensler’s hands. While the SEC and Ripple have settled charges involving CEO Brad Garlinghouse and other executives. But the SEC is likely to appeal July 2023 ruling now that the judge has delivered the verdict after the same judge previously denied the SEC’s request for an interim appeal last year.

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