Enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating the future that awaits Ripple after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its legal suit against the project. Ripple and the SEC have been at loggerheads since December 22, 2020, as the regulator accused Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen of conducting an illegal securities offering with the sale of XRP tokens.
The SEC maintained a strong position that the XRP is a security rather than a commodity, emphasizing Ripple ought to operate under the federal securities laws. Conversely, the company argued that XRP is a virtual currency like Bitcoin and Ethereum, hence the project is outside the jurisdiction of the SEC.
Also, in its defense, Ripple disparaged how the regulator failed to establish a regulatory framework for all industry players to embrace. Instead, the SEC, according to the firm, insisted on regulating the crypto sector with old federal security laws.
The SEC on the other end continued to argue that Ripple illegally raised $1.3 billion without proper registration. During the early days of the struggle, Ripple gained a major advantage after a US District Judge ruled that the firm didn’t violate any law for selling XRP to retail investors.
On the flip side, the Judge bemoaned that the sale of $728 million worth of XRP to institutional investors violated security laws. Consequently, the Judge concluded that Ripple should pay $125 million as a fine.
The ruling gave the SEC enough backing to launch more lawsuits against cryptocurrency companies including Binance and Coinbase. As of December 31, 2024, the US SEC instigated 207 cryptocurrency-related performance actions including 135 litigations and 72 administrative proceedings.
In addition, the regulator claimed more than $8.2 billion as fines from cryptocurrency companies. However, the $4.5 billion settlement with Terraform Labs contributed hugely to the figures.
How Trump has helped resolve the issue between Ripple and SEC
Things took a new turn entirely with Donald Trump as the US president. The new support from the US president gave cryptocurrency a significant boost, resulting in a massive influx of investors to the sector.
Trump declared support for the sector and has taken bold steps to set the US on the track of becoming the hottest crypto hub. Since his inauguration, Trump has replaced anti-crypto SEC boss Gary Gensler with Paul Atkins as the nominee for the role.
Paul Atkins is well known for his soft stance towards crypto, building the optimism that the industry will flourish under the new boss. Similarly, the US president organized the first crypto conference where Trump confirmed that his administration would set up a strategic reserve.
The reserve, according to the president, will include assets like BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and a few others. Likewise, other republican politicians support Trump’s approach to the sector, further compelling the SEC to drop its lawsuit against Ripple.
On March 19, 2025, the SEC withdrew its appeal, instructing Ripple to do the same as the parties agreed to a $50 million fine. As part of the settlement, Ripple reclaimed $75 million from the fee, leaving the SEC with $50 million.
The Future
The road ahead remains clear for Ripple after the end of its lawsuit with the US SEC. An early pointer to what lies ahead is how XRP has reclaimed its position among the top 10 cryptocurrencies.
XRP soared by 14% when Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse confirmed that SEC had withdrawn the case. Likewise, the token went on to unseat USDT as the third-largest stablecoin with a market cap of $143.5 billion only behind Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Despite seeing a price minimum price correction, XRP is set to enjoy huge market attention as the lawsuit comes to an end. As the tussle remained intense, Ripple shifted its attention to the development of an inter-border payment system with its XRP Ledger.
Thanks to this system, Ripple managed to generate a utility stream for the token. Also, Brad Garlinghouse hinted that Ripple will focus on working with central banks across the globe to support its XRPL payment innovation.
The recent launching of Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD further underlines the efforts of the firm to establish its presence in other sectors of the crypto space. So far, the stablecoin controls a market cap of $176.62 million despite launching in December 2025.
In the absence of the ban, RLUSD is tipped to enjoy significant adoption, putting up competition with established stablecoins like USDT and USDC. Without a doubt, the end of the legal tussle with the US SEC will establish Ripple as a major cryptocurrency company within and other the US market.
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