Ripple Labs has agreed to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil lawsuit regarding the alleged sale of unregistered securities, paying $50 million of a previously imposed $125 million fine, according to the company's chief legal officer.
The settlement would conclude one of the SEC's most notable cryptocurrency cases as the regulator reduces oversight of the industry.
Ripple's Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty posted on X that the SEC would retain $50 million of the fine that U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres imposed in August, which is currently held in escrow accruing interest. Alderoty noted that the settlement requires approval from both the SEC and the judge, and emphasized that there is no admission of wrongdoing by Ripple.
The SEC declined to provide comments on the matter.
Last week, Ripple indicated that the SEC had appealed Torres' July 2023 decision stating that the XRP token sold by Ripple on public exchanges did not qualify as a security. Ripple intends to withdraw its appeal concerning Torres' ruling that $728 million of XRP sales to institutional investors should comply with securities laws.
XRP ranks as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market value, following Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether, according to CoinMarketCap.
Since President Biden's return to the White House, the SEC has also halted civil lawsuits against crypto exchanges and indicated it may resolve a civil fraud case involving a Chinese entrepreneur associated with a Trump-backed crypto project.
Trump has nominated Paul Atkins, a Washington lawyer viewed as supportive of the crypto industry, to chair the SEC, with his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing set for Thursday.