XRP experienced a significant uptick of over 3% on Friday following the announcement from Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse that the company would drop its cross-appeal against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Key Highlights:
The announcement from Ripple’s CEO resulted in a boost for XRP, which surged after the decision to withdraw the cross-appeal against the SEC.
A recent ruling by a federal court denied the requests from both Ripple and the SEC to lower a civil penalty of $125 million.
Ripple’s legal team reiterated that the classification of XRP as a non-security remains intact, alleviating concerns among investors.
In a post on X, Garlinghouse stated, “Ripple is dropping our cross-appeal, and the SEC is expected to drop their appeal, as they’ve previously said.” He noted that the company is now focused on advancing its vision of “building the internet of Value” as it moves beyond the protracted legal battle. Following Garlinghouse’s remarks, XRP’s value climbed 3.36% to $2.18, as reported by CoinMarketCap.
Court Denies Ripple-SEC Attempt to Reduce $125 Million Fine
The announcement follows a recent ruling where a US district court rejected a joint motion from Ripple and the SEC, which aimed for a ruling that could have reduced Ripple’s $125 million civil penalty and altered the designation of Ripple’s institutional sales of XRP as securities transactions.
Judge Analisa Torres indicated that Ripple’s efforts to “push the boundaries” of earlier judgments suggested a potential for further violations.
Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, addressed the court ruling, explaining that Ripple faced a choice: abandon its appeal or persist in contesting the findings.
Despite the decision, Alderoty reassured stakeholders that “XRP’s legal status as not a security remains unchanged,” indicating that Ripple would continue its business operations without disruption.
The SEC’s lawsuit, initiated in December 2020, accused Ripple Labs, Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen of raising $1.3 billion through unregistered sales of XRP, infringing on federal securities laws.
#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP BREAKING: Judge Torres has denied the parties’ Motion for an Indicative Ruling. pic.twitter.com/9AMhGcQUsU
— James K. Filan (@FilanLaw) June 26, 2025
While the court determined that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP did not amount to securities transactions, it ruled that the institutional sales did.
Garlinghouse previously characterized Judge Torres’ August 2024 ruling—which imposed a $125 million penalty, a figure significantly lower than the SEC’s initial $2 billion demand—as a “victory” for the company.
Should the SEC proceed with dropping its appeal, it would conclude a four-year litigation saga, potentially clearing a significant hurdle for XRP’s standing in the US market.
XRP Ledger Upgrade Introduces Institutional Tokens
In parallel news, RippleX, the development branch of Ripple, has launched version 2.5.0 of the XRP Ledger, featuring numerous protocol enhancements designed to bolster network performance and security.
RippleX engineer Mayukha Vadari described this upgrade as “possibly the best single lineup of amendments” released to date, which includes key advancements for token management and transaction efficiency.
The XLS-85 amendment revamps the escrow system to accommodate third-party issued tokens, like stablecoins, and introduces multi-functional tokens tailored for institutional use.
Another significant improvement, XLS-56, facilitates wrapper transactions that consolidate up to eight steps into one action, aiming to reduce failure rates in complex transaction scenarios and enhance network efficiency for sophisticated applications.
This new update arrives as the XRP Ledger sees a surge in user activity, with daily active addresses skyrocketing from an average of 35,000 to over 295,000.
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